Week 1 : 菲國掃毒

Even the most adamant supporters of the war on drugs agree that it is failing. At a major UN summit on drug policy earlier this year, many member states argued forcefully for a more balanced and humane approach. But there’s one anti-drug crusader who refuses to face the facts. For the past six months Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines has waged one of the world’s most vicious counter-narcotics campaigns.

Duterte campaigned for president with a pledge to clean up the drug menace for good. Within days of winning the election he launched a scorched earth approach targeting anyone suspected of being involved in consuming or selling narcotics. During his inaugural address on 30 June, the one-time mayor of Davao city vowed to “slaughter these idiots for destroying my country”.

And kill them he has. The national police estimates that more than 6,000 people were assassinated by law enforcement, paramilitaries and vigilantes since 1 July 2016. The police say that at least 2,000 people were shot and killed by officers in “self defence” during anti-drug operations. Around 33 people are killed for every one person injured, making this the most deadly drug war ever. Another 38,000 people have reportedly been jailed, fuelling a crisis in the country’s overpopulated prisons.

The president exults in the bloodbath. He recently boasted of killing suspectsduring his time as mayor, saying in “Davao I used to do it personally”, suggesting that summary executions are tolerated at the very top.

The president claims to have “cleaned up the streets” of Davao during his roughly two decades in power, calling it one of the world’s safest cities. Although the city is certainly cleaner and features new legislation that improves crime reporting, claims of public safety are vastly overstated. Indeed, publicly available data on crime shows the city posted the highest rates of murder and second highest rates of rape in the country between 2010-2015.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jan/05/rodrigo-dutertes-drug-war-in-the-philippines-is-out-of-control-he-needs-to-be-stopped

Structure  of the Lead :

WHO : Duterte 

WHEN : 2017

WHAT : 

WHY :

WHERE :

HOW :

Keywords :

1. adamant : (adj.) 堅定不移的、固執的

2. crusader : (n.) 改革運動的鬥士

3. vicious : (adj.) 邪惡的、惡意的

4. menace : (n.) 威脅

5. narcotics : (n.) 毒品

6. inaugural : (adj.) 開始的

7. assassinate : (v.) 暗殺

8. paramilitary : (n.) 準軍事部隊

9. slaughter : (n.) 屠殺

10. legislation : (n.) 立法