MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday invited the UN human rights monitor to set up office in the country and join all anti-narcotic operations, amid growing public and global criticism of his bloody war on drugs.
“I will personally through an official channel invite the human rights commission to set up a satellite office here,” Duterte told reporters after attending the wake of a slain policeman, referring to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
“I will tell police station commanders, do not operate without a representative of the UN human rights commission and everybody must wear a camera so it will all be transparent.”
The comments were a marked change from Duterte’s usual disdain for the UN, which he once threatened to withdraw from after human rights experts and rapporteurs expressed concern about the huge death toll in his signature war on drugs.
Thousands of people, mostly poor urban Filipinos, have been killed since he took office in June 2016.
The OHCHR had no immediate comment on Duterte’s remarks.
Duterte has also made a public debate with UN envoys a prerequisite for any visit or investigation related to the anti-drug campaign.
His outreach to the UN comes as the Philippine National Police (PNP) comes under heavy criticism over the deaths in August of two teenagers. Police say they were killed in self defense, but activists and political opponents have said it was cold-blooded murder.
Duterte and his allies were chided last week after lawmakers allied with Duterte supported giving the Philippines Commission on Human Rights an annual budget of just 1,000 pesos ($19.55), which critics at home and abroad said would be tantamount to destroying a constitutional body.
Duterte on Monday said he had no plan to abolish the CHR.
He also said the proposed 678 million peso budget would be used to buy body cameras for the PNP during anti-drug operations, to show transparency.
More than 3,800 people have been killed in police anti-drugs operations in the past 15 months and at least 2,100 other homicides were likely drug-related. Police reject allegations by human rights groups that they are executing suspected users and dealers.
Duterte invites UN rights body to open Philippine office
Duterte invites UN rights body to open Philippine office
Trump says Australia will grant asylum to Iran women footballers
- Presenter on Iranian state TV had branded the players “wartime traitors” after they stood motionless during the anthem
MIAMI: US President Donald Trump said Monday that Australia had agreed to grant asylum to some of Iran’s visiting women’s football team, amid fears they could face retaliation back home for not singing the national anthem before a match.
The gesture ahead of the team’s Asian Cup match against South Korea last week was seen by many as an act of defiance against the Islamic republic just two days after the United States and Israel attacked it.
“I just spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, of Australia, concerning the Iranian National Women’s Soccer Team. He’s on it! Five have already been taken care of,” Trump said Monday on his Truth Social network, less than two hours after an initial post urging Australia to take them in.
Trump added that “some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return.”
There was no immediate comment from the Australian government, which has so far declined to say whether it could offer the players asylum.
Asked about their case on Sunday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia “stands in solidarity” with the people of Iran.
The son of Iran’s late shah, US-based Reza Pahlavi, warned on Monday that the refusal to sing the anthem could have “dire consequences,” and urged Australia to offer the team protection.
Trump then weighed in, pressing Albanese to “give ASYLUM” to the team and adding: “The US will take them if you won’t.”
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed,” the US leader said on Truth Social.
Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the monarchy, has billed himself as the man to lead a democratic transition to a secular Iran as the theocratic regime fights to survive.
Politicians, human rights activists and even “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling have also called for the team to be offered official protection.
“Please, protect these young women,” Rowling said in a post on social media.
‘Save our girls’
A presenter on Iranian state TV had branded the players “wartime traitors” after they stood motionless during the anthem before their match against South Korea.
In subsequent games, the players saluted and sang.
Crowds gathered outside the Gold Coast stadium where the side played their last match over the weekend, banging drums and shouting “regime change for Iran.”
They then surrounded the Iranian team bus, chanting “let them go” and “save our girls.”
On Monday, an AFP journalist saw members of the team speaking on phones from their balcony of their hotel.
Asked about the possibility of granted asylum, a spokesperson for Australia’s Home Affairs department told AFP earlier it “cannot comment on the circumstances of individuals.”
Amnesty International campaigner Zaki Haidari said they faced persecution, or worse, if they were sent home.
“Some of these team members probably have had their families already threatened,” Haidari told AFP.
“Them going back... who knows what sort of punishment they will receive?“
Despite being heavily monitored, the side would have a “small window of opportunity” to seek asylum at the airport, he said.
Iran’s embassy in Australia did not respond to a request for comment.
