Philippines: Speaking Out For Victims Of Drug War Has Consequences
Following a drug raid, police shot Harra Kazuo’s common-law husband and his father in cold blood. She followed this horrific event up by seeking justice.
Shortly after their deaths, Kazuo, a 26-year-old mother, gave a television interview during which she accused two officers of killing her family members without reason. She then shared the account and allegations within the Philippine Senate to a committee investigating the country’s ongoing drug war. The event was televised and broadcast nationwide.
#Philippines leader threatens tough measures to boost drug war https://t.co/RtLl0f8BJ8 #asiapac #DU30
— Chris Schroen (@dumpendebat) November 12, 2016
However, justice has not been the result of her efforts on the behalf of her loved ones. She has instead received consequences for speaking out about the account. She now lives with her three children in hiding under witness protection and the shelter of a program that is run by the nation’s Commission of Human Rights, which have been concerned for her security and safety since she spoke out. Those who run the program, continue to investigate while offering Kazuo protection.
It is a demonstration that there is a severe lack of trust in the police force within the nation, that a program of this sort exists. It is not a secret that the police within the Philippines are corrupt, and the campaign that has been ongoing that involves police officials addressing the drug epidemic in the nation has left over 4,000 people dead in only a few months’ time. The justice system is also broken, which means that holding anyone accountable for crimes is not an easy feat.
Kazuo states that she is working to see this case through because “what is happening is not right.”
The AP notes her words about the situation.
“I want them to feel how they treated my husband. I want them to feel what it’s like for a family to lose a loved one.”
Both officers who are responsible for the murders of her family members have been suspended and have been present at preliminary hearings, as prosecutor Orlando Mariano stated, yet they remain free and neither of the officers have been indicted. Should prosecutors decide evidence in the case is too weak, the men may end up going free without penalty.
Even though the nation’s police have been responsible for the majority of deaths and executions of drug suspects since the drug war began, Jose Luis Martin Gascon, director of the Manila-based rights commission, shares that no police has been charged criminally in court. Yet the spokesman for the national police, Dionardo-Carlo, has said that police have been arrested and charged, but that he was unable to offer any details.
The body count continues to rise in Duterte’s Philippines. https://t.co/tM0vj4kXgk
— VICE News (@vicenews) November 6, 2016
Regardless, the killing of Kazuo’s family “is the highest profile case we’ve had so far, and it’s not even in court yet,” Gason says. This being the highest profile case, which is seeing little justice, means that there is little hope for those who have not gotten exposure, as Gason shares.
“So what do you think’s going to happen to the rest — the ones that got no attention and have already been forgotten?”
The publication reminds as to why the campaign was begun by President Duterte.
“President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed his campaign to rid the country of narcotics immediately after taking office June 30. The effort has been praised by a population exasperated by corruption and crime, but it has been condemned by the United Nations, foreign governments and activist groups because of its staggering death toll and apparent disregard for human life.”
Kazuo has acknowledged that her husband had been a small-time methamphetamine dealer, but insists that he only took on the role because there was no other work for him.
It was before midnight on July 6 when the police raided the family’s one-room apartment in a slum of Manila. The officers did not find any drugs but still hauled the 28-year-old away, along with his father. Kazuo visited them at the police station the next morning and they were very bruised. Only hours later, she learned they were shot in the head, each three times.
Police state that the men had been killed after one attempted to grab a firearm that belonged to an officer. However, commission officials who conducted the forensic investigation state that the detainees had been beaten too badly to have tried to steal a gun.
Kazuo says she is now unable to see friends and family and does not try to call them out of fear her conversations may be tracked.
“I rarely go outside anymore,” she said. “I stay inside the house, sometimes I read books, love stories… I don’t even want to go outside and walk.”
Kazuo, now a mother of three since giving birth to a baby boy in September, says the commission receives little cooperation from police and they have refused to release an autopsy report for further investigation.
“It’ll get worse before it gets better,” Gascon said. “While Duterte is president, I do not believe people will be charged and held to account… so what we need to do now is to prepare the evidence for the time we can have a proper reckoning.”
[Featured Image by Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images]
