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As a nation, with its leaders and citizens, we need to acknowledge the need for healing after the deaths and damage the “war of drugs” has left on its path — a healing that is both political and spiritual.
As a nation, with its leaders and citizens, we need to acknowledge the need for healing after the deaths and damage the war of drugs has left on its path—a healing that is both political and spiritual.
The “war on drugs” has left not just a trail of dead bodies, shattered families, and compromised morality. It is important to remember the harm it has caused to our families and our country, as well as the collective pain it has inflicted. But we must not let the scars of violence the “war of drugs” has caused to hinder us from healing.
We must not let healing turn into forgetting. We must strive for recovery by remembering that there are people who must be held accountable for the deaths and damage the “war on drugs” has brought to our nation.
The first step towards healing is in acknowledging what the “war on drugs” has exposed about our country, and ourselves.
The “war on drugs” has shed light on the country’s flawed justice system — a system that has led to many mistaken and erroneous convictions. It has exposed the overcrowding of prison cells and the inaccessibility of proper and affordable law assistance. It has revealed our disregard for human rights and proper healthcare for everyone.
The first step towards healing is in acknowledging what the war on drugs has exposed about our country—and ourselves
The war on drugs has shed a light on the country’s flawed justice system—a system that has led to many mistaken and erroneous convictions. It has exposed the overcrowding of prison cells and the inaccessibility of proper and affordable law assistance. It has revealed our disregard for human rights and proper healthcare for everyone.
But it has also revealed that many will choose more humane ways of dealing with crimes linked to illegal drugs than harsher capital punishment. Filipinos are beginning to think that death is not the solution to the problems of poverty and criminality, regardless of what the government said in the past.
Another step towards healing is through the jailing of perpetrators of human rights crimes that have been committed against the Filipino people in the past five years. The deaths — whether via the official “war on drugs” program of the government or due to vigilante killings supposedly related to illegal drugs — are not just inhumane; they are also unlawful. And there are people and government offices that have had a hand in these killings: either through an outright endorsement or through negligence, by not lifting a finger to stop the murders and the violation of human rights against the country’s people.
If we want to heal as a nation, those who perpetrated these unlawful acts must pay for their crimes in accordance with the law.
We must support the victims and the families of the victims of these human rights crimes when they seek justice through the proper agencies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC already authorized the Office of the Prosecutor to start a full investigation into the possible crime against humanity of murder allegedly committed between Nov. 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019 in the context of the Philippines’ “war on drugs.” Furthermore, the investigation will also include other “sufficiently linked” crimes that fall within the Court’s jurisdiction such as inhumane acts/torture, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty, enforced disappearance, and sexual violence.
Other organizations such as Amnesty International and the United Nations Human Rights Council are also pushing to launch an investigation in the Philippines to examine the crimes and human rights violations committed during the Duterte administration, including its “war on drugs.”
We must demand accountability from the perpetrators of these human rights crimes if we want to heal.
A way towards healing is to consider restorative justice, a system that focuses on how to rehabilitate criminals instead of just punishing them for their crimes.
A way towards healing is to consider restorative justice, a system that focuses on how to rehabilitate criminals instead of just punishing them for their crimes.
Restorative justice acknowledges that crime causes harm to people and the community — and to the criminal, too. By addressing those harms, we address the root of the crime. It heals both the criminal and the community. This is a system that works hand in hand with harm reduction: by focusing on rehabilitation, we minimize the harm brought about by drug use.
Restorative justice is already at the core of the justice system via the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, a law that holds children accountable for their crimes using methods that prevent their incarceration. It is a law that puts emphasis on rehabilitation and prevention rather than punishment. The result: lesser risk of children committing crime again.
This system highlights the fact that it is both the responsibility of the government and its people to establish an environment that does not push its citizens to a life of crime. It encourages people to do good for the country and the country does good for its people.
Many local organizations and movements are pushing and promoting more humane and lawful ways of dealing with crime and illegal drug use.
Check out the following organizations to see their efforts and how they are encouraging and working towards the country’s healing, especially as we continue to fight against the government’s “war on drugs.”
Many local organizations and movements are pushing and promoting more humane, lawful ways of dealing with crime and illegal drug use.
Check out orgs to see their efforts and how they are encouraging and working towards the country’s healing, especially as we continue to fight against the government’s war on drugs:
Since the start of Duterte’s presidency, many foreign organizations have been looking at the Philippines closely because of the alarming reports of human rights violations and killings under the government’s “war on drugs” campaign.
Since the start of Duterte’s presidency, many foreign organizations have been looking at the Philippines closely because of the alarming reports of human rights violations and killings under the government’s war on drugs campaign.
Besides the International Criminal Court, groups and movements such as Investigate PH, the Human Rights Watch, the World Organization Against Torture, and several other non-governmental organizations all over the world have urged the United Nations and the international community to help end the human rights violation under Duterte.
Check out the international organizations that are working towards ending these crimes in the Philippines and see how you can help their cause:
Let us amplify the people’s call towards justice. If you want to collaborate in expanding this page, email us at support@stopthekillings.ph
We are a safe space for learning. We are home to different information and stories, gathered from credible sources, about harm reduction.
We are stronger and louder as a community. Contribute your voice and stories here. Help amplify the call to stop the killings.
We are listening. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Leave a message and we’ll get in touch with you.
We are a safe space for learning. We are home to different information and stories, gathered from credible sources, about harm reduction.
We are stronger and louder as a community. Contribute your voice and stories here. Help amplify the call to stop the killings.
We are listening. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Leave a message and we’ll get in touch with you.
#StopTheKillingsPH #EndImpunity #NotoEJK #StartTheHealing
#StopTheKillingsPH #EndImpunity #NotoEJK #StartTheHealing
Stop the Killings PH is a call to action advocating for harm reduction policies, amplifying demand for accountability, and humanize the stories of the victims affected by the “war on drugs.”
Stop the Killings PH is a call to action advocating for harm reduction policies, amplifying demand for accountability, and humanize the stories of the victims affected by the “war on drugs.”