From Presidential
Spokesperson Ernest Abella:
“We are aware that Dr.
Callamard is currently in the Philippines and we are disappointed that, in not
contacting our government in advance of this visit, she has sent a clear signal
that she is not interested in getting an objective perspective on the issues
that are the focus of her responsibility.
On September 26, 2016
we sent a letter to Dr. Callamard congratulating her on her appointment as UN
Special Rapporteur and in that letter we issued an invitation for her to visit
the Philippines to meet with members of our government and others to get our
perspective on the drug menace confronting our country and the efforts of law
enforcement and others to address that challenge within the means allowed by
Philippine law.
Our hope at that time
was that Dr. Callamard would accept this invitation as part of a commitment to
carry out her new responsibilities in a manner that was objective and fair to
all perspectives on this important issue.
The fact that Dr.
Callamard did not respond to our invitation showed that she would not be
approaching her review of allegations concerning our country objectively or
comprehensively.
That assessment has
been reinforced by the fact that Dr. Callamard has arrived in the Philippines
in a manner that circumvents all recognized United Nations protocols for such
visits and, more importantly, at the very time our government has a
senior-level delegation traveling to Geneva to meet with officials of the
Office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as part of the
3rd Cycle of the Universal Period Review of the Philippines and the issue of
human rights.
Our position is very clear, if Dr. Callamard is committed to ensuring due process to our government and a truly objective assessment of our record on an issue of tremendous importance to our nation, she should be in Geneva meeting with our representatives.
The fact that we issued
an invitation to Dr. Callamard to visit the Philippines makes it clear that we
respected her as a professional and we very much wanted her to see the
situation on the ground first-hand and engage in an exchange of views with
officials in our government to understand our position on the issue of human
rights and the progress being made in the Philippines.
Her actions since then,
and the circumstances surrounding her current visit, have made it clear that
Dr. Callamard is not approaching her assignment professionally or objectively.
This is a matter we have asked our representatives at the United Nations to
take up with their United Nations counterparts and it is something our
delegation in Geneva will certainly be raising during their current visit.
Our commitment to carrying
out the President’s social justice agenda remains as strong as our commitment
to ensuring that our nation is freed from the damage done daily to millions of
our people by the proliferation of illegal drugs throughout our country. The
goals associated with these commitments are complementary and the efforts to
achieve them are being carried out in a manner that respects our laws.”
Source: pinoynewsonline
and Malacanang
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