Clear patterns in the extrajudicial killings of children

OMCT Statement

Thank you, Madam President.

We welcome the report of the High Commissioner on the Philippines, shedding light on gross human rights violations perpetrated in the context of President Duterte’s “war on drugs”.

Extrajudicial killings of children - particularly serious given children’s heightened vulnerability - remain however underreported.

In a research published this week, OMCT and its local partner documented 122 killings of children, aged from 1 to 17 years old, between July 2016 and December 2019.

38.5% of these killings were carried out by policemen as part of police operations, while 61.5% were executed by unknown individuals, some of them with direct links to the police.

Only one of these crimes was genuinely investigated, prosecuted and led to a conviction, because it had been recorded on video.

Our report identified four clear patterns, with children being killed either as direct targets, as proxies when the real targets could not be found, as a result of mistaken identities or as a so-called “collateral damage”, losing their lives to stray bullets during police operations.

Killings continue, with at least another seven children losing their lives since the beginning of 2020.

We call on the government of the Philippines to immediately put an end to extrajudicial killings and call on the Council to act on the recommendation of the High Commissioner to establish an independent, international investigation into allegations of gross human rights violations, with a specific focus on those committed against children.

Thank you.