MALACAÑANG on Wednesday, November 22, criticized United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Agnes Callamard as "incompetent" in assessing the Philippines' war on illegal drugs.
"Ms. Callamard, we reiterate, is not a competent and impartial rapporteur on our anti-drug campaign. The way she conducted herself does not befit her office," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
This was the Duterte government's response to a rebuke by Rupert Colville, spokesperson of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who slammed President Rodrigo Duterte for supposedly "intimidating" Callamard who sought to investigate drug-related deaths in the Philippines.
Colville was reacting to Duterte's threat to "slap" Callamard if she proceeds with her plan to look into the reported killings associated with his deadly crackdown on the illegal narcotics trade.
Roque, who has also been appointed as Presidential human rights adviser, said Colville should not take Duterte's remark seriously, noting that the President was merely used to issue "unorthodox rhetoric."
He added that the UN rights panel should instead focus on what Duterte wants to really convey to his audience.
"We note the concerns of Spokesperson Rupert Colville of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. However, he should do well not to judge the colorful language the President is known for, but by what he stands for and the values he holds dear," Roque said.
"We need to point that the President’s remarks on Callamard were addressed to a Filipino audience, who are used to the Chief Executive’s unorthodox rhetoric," he added.
On Tuesday, the UN rights body denounced Duterte's derogatory remarks against Callamard, who became the subject of "a tirade of abuse, including physical threats" on social media.
Colville said Callamard, who has voiced her concerns over Duterte's drug war, was merely fulfilling her mandate as UN special rapporteur on summary executions.
"This campaign, coupled with the repeated personal attacks on Ms. Callamard by President Duterte, seems to be designated to intimidate her into not carrying out the mandate bestowed on her by the Human Rights Council," he said.
"We condemn this treatment of Ms. Callamard, and the disrespect it shows to the Human Rights Council that appointed her, in strongest terms," he added.
Roque noted that it was Callamard who made a "deeply insulting" move when she went to the Philippines in May without considering the conditions set by the Duterte government for her visit to the country.
He urged Colville to look into Callamard's "arrogance" in going against the Philippine government's protocol, saying it was contrary to some human rights experts' "unbiased and transparent manner free of all political machinations, in accordance with their code of conduct and ethics."
"President Duterte’s standing offer to host a Global Human Rights Summit shows that this administration welcomes disinterested and apolitical human rights experts in the country," Roque said
"We believe there must be a venue for dialogue where human rights, given the wide array of rights it covers, can be discussed from a global perspective and not from the view of politicized individuals," he added. (SunStar Philippines)