Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte spoke out strongly against the United Nations (UN) and threatened to leave the body after it criticised the “illegal killings” spurred by his war against drug dealers in Philippine.
Duterte held a news conference in Davao City after Agnes Callamard, the new UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions, urged the Philippines to stop extrajudicial executions and killings, saying “state actors” could be punished for the “illegal killings”.
Ms Callamard also wrote on her Twitter account, saying that she welcomed any invitation to investigate the killings on the ground.
Invitation to investigate welcomed. Ready to "see for myself." https://t.co/K9BIZ3ZFKO
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) August 19, 2016
Duterte was outraged over the report, compelling him to say, “I do not want to insult you. But maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. Why do you have to listen to this stupid?” he said.
“I don’t give a sh*t about them. They are the ones interfering. You do not just go out and give a sh*tting statement against a country,” he added.
“If you are that rude, we might just as well leave,” he said.
“So take us out of your organisation. You have done nothing. Where were you here the last time? Never. Except to criticise,” he said.
He stated that he might just invite China, Africa, and another country to make another global organisation and said that the UN has not done enough to address hunger and terrorism and for not being able to do anything about Syria and Iraq and allowing the superpowers to bomb villages and kill innocent civilians.
Commenting on the picture of the 5-year-old Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh, which had recently gone viral around the world, he said, “Look at the iconic boy that was taken out from the rubble and he was made to sit in the ambulance and we saw it.”
“Why is it that (the) United States is not doing anything? I do not read you. Anybody in that stupid body complaining about the stench of death there?” he added.
He also criticised the body’s stance towards the US, “What do you think the Americans did to the black people there? Is that not rubbing off also? And (critics) say what?”
“You now, United Nations, if you can say one bad thing about me, I can give 10 (about you). I tell you, you are (useless). Because if you are really true to your mandate, you could have stopped all these wars and killings,” he said.
There have been about 900 hundred people killed by unidentified attackers and another 655 people died at the hands of security forces, according to the national police chief since the President took the vow on 9 May. It can be assumed that many more are killed apart from the figures provided by the authorities.
When he was asked about the possible consequences of his comments, he said, “What is repercussions? I don’t give a sh*t to them.”
He said that the UN should have acted according to the protocol and send a rapporteur to talk to him.