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Newsbrief:
Drug
War
Sparking
Death
Squad
Killings
Again
in
Philippines
9/26/03
Flagellated by a sensationalist
press and egged-on by publicity-seeking politicians, the Philippines is
deep in the depths of another round of drug war madness, and the death
toll is mounting -- again. Just a few years ago, Davao City was the
scene of vigilante-style executions of hundreds of suspected drug dealers,
and now, according to the General Santos Sunstar, the anti-drug death squads
are showing up in General Santos City.
As usual, the authorities
pronounce themselves mystified by the killings -- all of people on police
watch lists of suspected dealers or users -- or suggest that the drug dealers
are killing each other. But local residents told the paper they believed
the killings were the work of Davao-style death squads.
More than 120 people have
been killed in what police call "drug related summary executions" in General
Santos City since November 2001. That's according to Efren Alcuizar,
chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for Central Mindanao.
All of them were on anti-drug watch lists, he said. But PDEA had
nothing to do with it, he was quick to add. The latest victims, two
young men in their twenties, were gunned down by hooded, motorcycle-riding
vigilantes on September 13 and 14, the newspaper reported.
Local businessmen could be
paying the killers, Alcuizar suggested, citing the May 2002 case of two
would-be assassins captured by police who said they were being paid by
business interests to kill drug dealers. Those two later were killed
"reportedly attempting to escape," the paper noted. Mayor Pedro Acharon
Jr., however, denied the existence of anti-drug vigilante groups in the
city. Instead, he suggested, the killings are the result of drug
deals gone bad or disputes over profits.
-- END --
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Issue #304, 9/26/03
Editorial:
Patients vs. Prosecutors |
Pain Doctor Arrests
Provoke Backlash -- Group Urges FDA to Stop Cooperating With Justice Department |
Cheryl Miller
Memorial Project Does DC |
Hawaii Meth Mania:
Drug Summit, Media Push Target "Ice" |
Playing It Smart:
Sensible Seattle and the Winning of I-75 |
Newsbrief:
Dr. Hurwitz Indicted, Jailed in Campaign Against Pain Doctors |
Newsbrief:
MAPS-Sponsored Ecstasy Research Wins Final FDA Approval |
Newsbrief:
Rio de Janeiro Jails Stuffed With Drug Offenders |
Newsbrief:
UN Warns Stimulants "Public Enemy Number One," Cites Flawed Science, Attacks
"Liberalization" |
Newsbrief:
This Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
Newsbrief:
Cannabis Tolerance Showing Up in India |
Newsbrief:
Canadian Government to Appeal BC Marijuana Legalization Ruling |
Newsbrief:
Drug War Sparking Death Squad Killings Again in Philippines |
Newsbrief:
Ashcroft Says No Plea Bargains in Latest Bid to Send America to Prison
Forever |
Newsbrief:
Mandatory Minimum Sentences Unfair, Says Supreme Court Justice |
This Week
in History |
Current Action
Alerts: Medical Marijuana, Plan Colombia, HEA, Ashcroft's Attack
on Judicial Discretion |
Perry Fund
Accepting Applications for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 School Years, Providing
Scholarships for Students Losing Aid Because of Drug Convictions |
Errata:
Last Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
The Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
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