International advocacy group Human Rights Watch thinks that the Japanese government is turning a blind eye to President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” which has been heavily criticized by both the United States and the European Parliament.
In a statement, Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said that Japan wasted an opportunity by “heaping prestige and development assistance on the Philippines without insisting on human rights concessions.”
Kline cited the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in January, when he announced a whopping 5-year, JPY1 trillion (approximately PHP433-billion) Overseas Development Assistance package to strengthen strategic ties with the Philippines.
“Abe also said Japan will provide support for rehabilitation facilities for drug addicts in the Philippines,” says a report by The Japan Times.
However, Kline noted that during Abe’s visit and afterward, he “made no public reference to the ‘war on drugs’ and its brutal cost in lives and the impact on affected families.”
The lack of criticism from the Land of the Rising Sun made Duterte call Japan “a friend unlike any other.”
“Japan should be a true friend of the Philippines, and condemn Duterte’s ‘drug war,’ not condone it,” Kline said.
