Philippines Anti-drug war

[Deleted]

First and foremost, the images in the link are NSFW, they are of people literally gunned down in the streets. Some for selling drugs, some for using, some simply for being under the suspicion of buying or selling drugs, with no proof.
If you are in a public place or have a weak stomach, don't visit the link!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ings.html?_r=0

"Inside President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal antidrug campaign in the Philippines, our photojournalist documented 57 homicide victims over 35 days.

You hear a murder scene before you see it: The desperate cries of a new widow. The piercing sirens of approaching police cars. The thud, thud, thud of the rain drumming on the pavement of a Manila alleyway — and on the back of Romeo Torres Fontanilla.

Tigas, as Mr. Fontanilla was known, was lying facedown in the street when I pulled up after 1 a.m. He was 37. Gunned down, witnesses said, by two unknown men on a motorbike. The downpour had washed his blood into the gutter.

The rain-soaked alley in the Pasay district of Manila was my 17th crime scene, on my 11th day in the Philippines capital. I had come to document the bloody and chaotic campaign against drugs that President Rodrigo Duterte began when he took office on June 30: since then, about 2,000 people had been slain at the hands of the police alone.

I witnessed bloody scenes just about everywhere imaginable — on the sidewalk, on train tracks, in front of a girls’ school, outside 7-Eleven stores and a McDonald’s restaurant, across bedroom mattresses and living-room sofas. I watched as a woman in red peeked at one of those grisly sites through fingers held over her eyes, at once trying to protect herself and permit herself one last glance at a man killed in the middle of a busy road.

Not far from where Tigas was killed, I found Michael Araja, shown in the first photo below, dead in front of a “sari sari,” what locals call the kiosks that sell basics in the slums. Neighbors told me that Mr. Araja, 29, had gone out to buy cigarettes and a drink for his wife, only to be shot dead by two men on a motorcycle, a tactic common enough to have earned its own nickname: riding in tandem.

In another neighborhood, Riverside, a bloodied Barbie doll lay next to the body of a 17-year-old girl who had been killed alongside her 21-year-old boyfriend.

“They are slaughtering us like animals,” said a bystander who was afraid to give his name.



I have worked in 60 countries, covered wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and spent much of 2014 living inside West Africa’s Ebola zone, a place gripped by fear and death. What I experienced in the Philippines felt like a new level of ruthlessness: police officers’ summarily shooting anyone suspected of dealing or even using drugs, vigilantes’ taking seriously Mr. Duterte’s call to “slaughter them all.”

He said in October, “You can expect 20,000 or 30,000 more.”

On Saturday, Mr. Duterte said that, in a telephone call the day before, President-elect Donald J. Trump had endorsed the brutal antidrug campaign and invited him to visit New York and Washington. “He said that, well, we are doing it as a sovereign nation, the right way,” Mr. Duterte said in a summary of the call released by his office.

Beyond those killed in official drug operations, the Philippine National Police have counted more than 3,500 unsolved homicides since July 1, turning much of the country into a macabre house of mourning.

More than 35,600 people have been arrested in antidrug operations the government calls Project Tokhang. The name is derived from a phrase meaning “knock and plead” in Cebuano, Mr. Duterte’s first language.

In affluent neighborhoods of gated communities and estates, there is, indeed, sometimes a polite knock on the door, an officer handing a pamphlet detailing the repercussions of drug use to the housekeeper who answers. In poorer districts, the police grab teenage boys and men off the street, run background checks, make arrests and sometimes shoot to kill.

Government forces have gone door to door to more than 3.57 million residences, according to the police. More than 727,600 drug users and 56,500 pushers have surrendered so far, the police say, overcrowding prisons. At the Quezon City Jail, shown in the middle photo below, inmates take turns sleeping in any available space, including a basketball court."

The article is a bit longer, but if it interests you I suggest you go and read the rest. Remember the images though, NSFW! Literally dead people in the streets!

[Deleted]

Quickly, let's invade.

Or we could let them deal with their problems and mind our own business.

[JohnBrown1917]

It became a huge shithole since that guy took over.

[Bathory]

Loved how they made that article. Beautifully done for such a horrible subject.

[Liftbrul]

Kill the pushers, cure the users. Nobody will cry after the former, and the latter can be re-introduced back to society after their degenerate habits are done away with.

[Deleted]

If you love all the drug dealers and cartels so much why don't you move to mexico? I hear they're being treated real well there.

[Crissi]

If you love all the drug dealers and cartels so much why don't you move to mexico? I hear they're being treated real well there.

because its generally really despicable to kill people without trial. People object to this because it fundamentally undermines the rule of law, not because thye love druggies.

[Deleted]

It is absurd to think that it is even a thing that is happening, but alas the world isn't always a nice place.

It is almost like Judge Dredd, in real life.

[ParanoiD84]

It became a huge shithole since that guy took over.

Before was not that great either, one of the highest murder rates in the world, huge crime rates with all prisons overcrowded, terrorism and more.

[Maconi]

It's a "witch hunt" as you can simply accuse someone and then punish them, with no proof. Similar to the "Red Scare" where everyone is paranoid of being accused of being a commie sympathizer, only the accusation can result in your death.

[alexw]

Kill the pushers, cure the users. Nobody will cry after the former, and the latter can be re-introduced back to society after their degenerate habits are done away with.

I have to ask how do you communicate with us in this reality? Because you certainly don't ******* live in ours. Some two-bit street seller of drugs should not be executed by motorcycle vigilantes. He/she should not be executed, period. Never mind all the innocents who are being killed merely on suspicion.

[Nitro Fun]

because its generally really despicable to kill people without trial. People object to this because it fundamentally undermines the rule of law, not because thye love druggies.

You're aware this is in southeast asia, right? Democracy and rule of law isn't a big thing there. The rulers or the military do as they see fit.

People there surely do not share westerners view of it.

[Crissi]

You're aware this is in southeast asia, right? Democracy and rule of law has never been big there. The rulers or the military do as they see fit.

yeah, I'm aware. Doesn't mean its really ok, and Duerte really should grow a pair instead of throw a tantrum when he is criticized on this.

[alexw]

If you love all the drug dealers and cartels so much why don't you move to mexico? I hear they're being treated real well there.

Have you ever broken the law? For example broken the speed limit? If so why don't we just execute you for it? I mean you've broken the law.

Or perhaps the punishment should fit the crime.

[Nitro Fun]

yeah, I'm aware. Doesn't mean its really ok, and Duerte really should grow a pair instead of throw a tantrum when he is criticized on this.

It is ok there, you're speaking from a very western centric view. Drug users are cracked down hard upon in the southeast asian countries.

[breadisfunny]

good. this is how you deal with violent criminals. execute them all. cartels should also be targeted like this. start rounding gang members up and shooting them. i fully applaud his efforts to fight crime. however i don't think users should be punished just rehabilitated.

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It is ok there, you're speaking from a very western centric view. Drug users are cracked down hard upon in the southeast asian countries.

as they should be.

[Deleted]

good. this is how you deal with violent criminals. execute them all. cartels should also be targeted like this. start rounding gang members up and shooting them. i fully applaud his efforts to fight crime. however i don't think users should be punished just rehabilitated.

Problem is, throughout history we have often had the idea that if we just kill all the criminals, they'll be gone for good. As it turns out, it often just leads to a power vacuum in a very lucrative business, so it quickly gets filled up again and the problem just continues on and on. And that is not to mention that such slaughtering are rarely without a large amount of innocent or actual contributors to society, so it often times hurts those who aren't the problem, as much.
It sounds good on paper, and it does have a certain effect but it never really amounts to any paradises.

[Crissi]

It is ok there, you're speaking from a very western centric view. Drug users are cracked down hard upon in the southeast asian countries.

Guess they'll do what they'll do then, although again, Duerte needs to grow up instead of throw a tantrum over being criticized. Its not something Id want to start another Syria over.

and I certainly wouldn't want such actions to ever be ok over here.

[Deleted]

Have you ever broken the law? For example broken the speed limit? If so why don't we just execute you for it? I mean you've broken the law.

Or perhaps the punishment should fit the crime.

yeah making a killing by ruining the lives of countless people (mostly children and young adults) is really the same as someone who goes 1 kilometer past the speed limit.

whats the pont of even talking to a druggie sympathiser.

[Crissi]

yeah making a killing by ruining the lives of countless people (mostly children and young adults) is really the same as someone who goes 1 kilometer past the speed limit.

whats the pont of even talking to a druggie sympathiser.

feel free to alter the Constitution to get rid of that pesky "no cruel or unusual punishment" section then.