President Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines) gets 91% approval
Discussion
Apparently the approval rating follows his vigilantism directive that drug dealers who resist arrest, creatively speaking, can be killed. A couple of thousand already have, no arrest and no trial. As expected the UN, USA et al are pointing to the concept of justice within the law.
WTF?!
Link said:
Since Duterte, 71, a tough-talking former mayor and prosecutor, took office on June 30, he has waged a brutal campaign against drugs and crime, vowing not to stop “until the last drug lord, the last financier and the last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars. Or below the ground if they so wish.” His words have catalyzed a spike in extrajudicial killings.
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-philippines-killings-snap-story.htmlWTF?!
Edited by turbobloke on Tuesday 23 August 18:56
Here's a piece on Reuters today - not graphic
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-drug-police-idUS...
'Nearly 700,000 drug users and drug peddlers have turned themselves in to escape the crackdown, police chief dela Rosa said. He said there was a decrease in overall crime, although murders and homicides had increased.'
Astonishing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-drug-police-idUS...
'Nearly 700,000 drug users and drug peddlers have turned themselves in to escape the crackdown, police chief dela Rosa said. He said there was a decrease in overall crime, although murders and homicides had increased.'
Astonishing.
Very! It's not just the police who have been given carte blanche. Civilians are also being invited to engage with drug dealers, as vigilantes. There was a chap interviewed on the news yesterday who has his own rather long list of targets and is working his way through it with impunity.
It tends to be the initial outcome when ordinary people are under the yoke of corruption & injustice & they get a stab at things (not the best turn of phrase I acknowledge).
For another view on the peoples intervention aspect, Cartel Land makes intersesting viewing.
It does seem to fit "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" far better than the arch-liar Blair actually achieved during his 10 year magic act.
For another view on the peoples intervention aspect, Cartel Land makes intersesting viewing.
It does seem to fit "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" far better than the arch-liar Blair actually achieved during his 10 year magic act.
turbobloke said:
Very! It's not just the police who have been given carte blanche. Civilians are also being invited to engage with drug dealers, as vigilantes. There was a chap interviewed on the news yesterday who has his own rather long list of targets and is working his way through it with impunity.
Giving people power like this, or turning a blind eye to it at least, is almost always going to end badly IMO, people who are innocent or undeserving are at risk of ending up dead or hurt at the hands of someone with a grudge against them who has just been given a perfect excuse/get out clause. If civil liberties are being curtailed then the perpetrators of such crime stand to literally get away with murder, scary stuff!
FN2TypeR said:
Giving people power like this, or turning a blind eye to it at least, is almost always going to end badly IMO, people who are innocent or undeserving are at risk of ending up dead or hurt at the hands of someone with a grudge against them who has just been given a perfect excuse/get out clause.
If civil liberties are being curtailed then the perpetrators of such crime stand to literally get away with murder, scary stuff!
I agree. Of course depending on bow bad their drug problem is it might balance out as the lesser of two evils, but in the aftermath you're going to have a portion of the citizenry who have been murdering people out of a sense of righteousness and another portion who have had friends murdered by neighbours. It would be like giving Daily Mail readers guns.If civil liberties are being curtailed then the perpetrators of such crime stand to literally get away with murder, scary stuff!
This also leaves a huge grey area for settling scores.
Reading an interesting book at the moment somewhat linked to this
"The price of prosperity"
Liberal democracy leads to prosperous stable countries but paradoxically it also creates the factors that could tear them apart in terms of falling birthrates, increased immigration and falling national identity and community cohesion.
This is somewhat similar in that the only way to create a stable country is the rule of law, and the protection of the rights of citizens, and yet in a poor country controlled by the drugs trade this can lead to Narco-democracy.
There are never any easy answers and all we can hope for is to have the opportunity to vote for politicians who can create the right balance.
"The price of prosperity"
Liberal democracy leads to prosperous stable countries but paradoxically it also creates the factors that could tear them apart in terms of falling birthrates, increased immigration and falling national identity and community cohesion.
This is somewhat similar in that the only way to create a stable country is the rule of law, and the protection of the rights of citizens, and yet in a poor country controlled by the drugs trade this can lead to Narco-democracy.
There are never any easy answers and all we can hope for is to have the opportunity to vote for politicians who can create the right balance.
JagLover said:
Reading an interesting book at the moment somewhat linked to this
"The price of prosperity"
Liberal democracy leads to prosperous stable countries but paradoxically it also creates the factors that could tear them apart in terms of falling birthrates, increased immigration and falling national identity and community cohesion.
This is somewhat similar in that the only way to create a stable country is the rule of law, and the protection of the rights of citizens, and yet in a poor country controlled by the drugs trade this can lead to Narco-democracy.
There are never any easy answers and all we can hope for is to have the opportunity to vote for politicians who can create the right balance.
That sounds like a good book. I will pick up a copy. "The price of prosperity"
Liberal democracy leads to prosperous stable countries but paradoxically it also creates the factors that could tear them apart in terms of falling birthrates, increased immigration and falling national identity and community cohesion.
This is somewhat similar in that the only way to create a stable country is the rule of law, and the protection of the rights of citizens, and yet in a poor country controlled by the drugs trade this can lead to Narco-democracy.
There are never any easy answers and all we can hope for is to have the opportunity to vote for politicians who can create the right balance.
Great - but very sad - summaries there.
Similar to what's going on in the Mexican border areas where Mexican anti narco gangs are taking justice into their own hands, they have to also deal with corrupt politicians and the police though,
In Colombia in the 80s it was also paramilitary anti drug groups that help lead to the downfall of Pablo Escobar,
if the government and police are unable to tackle the problem 'allowing' ones own citizens to fight the gangs is actually a very effective method.
In Colombia in the 80s it was also paramilitary anti drug groups that help lead to the downfall of Pablo Escobar,
if the government and police are unable to tackle the problem 'allowing' ones own citizens to fight the gangs is actually a very effective method.
glazbagun said:
It would be like giving Daily Mail readers guns.
I'm imagining my mother with an Uzi..... Seriously though, we can't judge the Philippines by our standards, if the drug gangs have become so powerful then maybe this is the only way and the odd 12 year old boy and a few people with grudges is less of a human cost than the people killed each day by the gangs or their products.
I don't know, so I won't be too quick to judge.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37172002
Theres plenty to moan about in Britain, but what a lottery win to be born here!
Theres plenty to moan about in Britain, but what a lottery win to be born here!
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