TEHRAN, March 10-The Philippine foreign minister hit back on Saturday at the United Nations’ human rights chief for issuing “irresponsible and disrespectful” comments about President Rodrigo Duterte, warning that such remarks could set a dangerous precedent.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The Philippine foreign minister hit back on Saturday at the United Nations’ human rights chief for issuing “irresponsible and disrespectful” comments about President Rodrigo Duterte, warning that such remarks could set a dangerous precedent.
Duterte’s attacks against U.N. human rights activists suggest he needs to see a psychiatrist, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein told a news conference on Friday after the Philippine leader criticized U.N. special rapporteurs.
Zeid’s comments came after the Philippine justice ministry filed a petition in a Manila court seeking the declaration of more than 600 alleged communist guerrillas, including a U.N. special rapporteur, as “terrorists”, a development first reported by Reuters.
The petition included Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, appointed in 2014 as U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, who was listed as a senior member of the Maoist rebel group.
Tauli-Corpuz has denounced the government, calling the complaint “baseless, malicious and irresponsible”.
Zeid said Duterte’s attacks against U.N. special rapporteurs cannot go unanswered and the U.N. Human Rights Council must take a position. He said the Philippine leader “needs to submit himself to some sort of psychiatric examination”.
Source:Reuters
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