Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to kill human-rights activists who obstruct his bloody drug war during a speech at the presidential palace Monday.<\/p>\n
Duterte gave a stark warning to those who accuse him of extrajudicial killings, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports. He said human-rights defenders would be responsible if the numbers of drug users increased.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe human-rights [defenders] said I ordered the killings. I told them, \u2018O.K. Let\u2019s stop. We\u2019ll let them [drug users] multiply so that when it\u2019s harvest time, more people will die,\u2019\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will include you because you are the reason why their numbers swell,\u201d he added, referring to human-rights activists.<\/p>\n
While sabre rattling has been a perennial feature of Duterte\u2019s presidency \u2014 he has directed profanity ridden tirades at various world leaders, which are often dialed back by members of his Cabinet \u2014 his drug war has killed at least 5,000 people since July 1, many of them at the hands of shadowy vigilante groups.<\/p>\n
Although he continues to deny ordering extrajudicial killings, in a separate speech on Saturday, Duterte addressed drug users, saying: \u201cIf you go out, you sons of b-tches, I will kill you if I see you outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid his latest slew of threats, the Inquirer reports that the President brandished a stack of documents he said contained a \u201cvalidated list\u201d of some 5,000 public officials with alleged links to the drug trade.<\/p>\n
Source: Time,\u00a0By: Joseph Hincks<\/p>\n
http:\/\/time.com\/4584478\/dutere-threatens-to-kill-human-rights-activists\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"