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Davao Death Squad
The Davao Death Squad (DDS) is a death squad group in Davao City, Philippines. The group is alleged to have conducted summary executions of street children and individuals suspected of petty crimes and drug dealing. It has been estimated that the group is responsible for the killing or disappearance of between 1,020 and 1,040 people between 1998 and 2008. A 2009 report by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) noted stonewalling by local police under the mayorship of Rodrigo Duterte while a leaked cable observed a lack of public outrage among Davao residents.
According to Amnesty International and local human rights groups, death squads killed over 300 people in Davao City between 1998 and 2005. The rate of killing accelerated after this. Between 2005 and 2008, death squads were responsible for between 700 and 720 executions. In a 2009 report by Human Rights Watch, the victims were mostly alleged drug dealers, petty criminals, and street children. Amnesty International states that killings and extrajudicial executions, particularly of criminal suspects, continued throughout the year. In Mindanao many such killings, including those of minors, were attributed to the so-called "Davao Death Squad" vigilante group. It was reported that local officials in some areas advocated a "shoot to kill" policy with respect to criminal suspects resisting arrest.
Retired Policeman Arthur Lascañas, a self-confessed leader of DDS, claims that the group was responsible for mosque bombings and the killing of a journalist during its heyday. According to Lascañas, the squad was ordered to bomb mosques in Davao in retaliation for the San Pedro Cathedral bombing.
DDS was conceptualized by former Integrated National Police Regional Commander Dionisio Tan-Gatue Jr. to fight the New People's Army's Sparrow Unit. Tan-Gatue allegedly used the late Juan "Jun" Pala, a known anti-New People's Army propagandist and radio commentator, to report stories about the death squad, which allegedly curbed executions perpetrated by the Sparrow Unit. By mid-1997, the DDS were deemed responsible for more than 60 unsolved murders in the city.
It is believed that the original members of the death squad included former members of the Sparrow Unit. Initially the death squad had around 10 members. This increased to around 500 by 2009.
Members of the death squad were managed by police, according to Human Rights Watch. These officers provided the assailants with training, weapons and ammunition, motorcycles, and information on the targets. Lists of targets were drawn up by police or barangay (village or district) officials. Information might include a name, address and a photograph. Local police stations were allegedly pre-warned to facilitate the murders and the escape of the assailants. According to testimony by Edgar Matobato in a 2016 Senate hearing he was assigned to kill certain targets that the police wanted dead such as like drug pushers, rapists, snatch thieves, etc. in the allegations.
Witnesses reported that police officers took a surprisingly long time to respond to incidents, even where these occurred in the vicinity of police stations. Officers neglected to follow basic investigative procedures, such as collecting bullet casings from the street. Human Rights Watch reported that the standard tactics of the killers was to arrive in small groups of two or three on unlicensed motorbikes. Victims would be stabbed or shot without warning during daytime in public areas, such as bars, cafes, markets, shopping areas, jeepneys or tricycles, and in the presence of numerous witnesses. Assailants were generally paid between PHP5,000 and PHP50,000 (US$114 – US$1,147) for an assassination, depending on the target.
There appears to have been a certain degree of public approval among citizens of Davao City for the actions of the death squad, primarily fueled by public discontent at "the arduous and ineffective judicial system" that created an environment where extrajudicial executions seemed to be a "practical resort" to suppress crime in the city. There were subsequent reports of death squads operating in other cities, including General Santos, Digos, and Tagum City in Mindanao as well as in Cebu City, the second largest city in the Philippines.
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Davao Death Squad
The Davao Death Squad (DDS) is a death squad group in Davao City, Philippines. The group is alleged to have conducted summary executions of street children and individuals suspected of petty crimes and drug dealing. It has been estimated that the group is responsible for the killing or disappearance of between 1,020 and 1,040 people between 1998 and 2008. A 2009 report by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) noted stonewalling by local police under the mayorship of Rodrigo Duterte while a leaked cable observed a lack of public outrage among Davao residents.
According to Amnesty International and local human rights groups, death squads killed over 300 people in Davao City between 1998 and 2005. The rate of killing accelerated after this. Between 2005 and 2008, death squads were responsible for between 700 and 720 executions. In a 2009 report by Human Rights Watch, the victims were mostly alleged drug dealers, petty criminals, and street children. Amnesty International states that killings and extrajudicial executions, particularly of criminal suspects, continued throughout the year. In Mindanao many such killings, including those of minors, were attributed to the so-called "Davao Death Squad" vigilante group. It was reported that local officials in some areas advocated a "shoot to kill" policy with respect to criminal suspects resisting arrest.
Retired Policeman Arthur Lascañas, a self-confessed leader of DDS, claims that the group was responsible for mosque bombings and the killing of a journalist during its heyday. According to Lascañas, the squad was ordered to bomb mosques in Davao in retaliation for the San Pedro Cathedral bombing.
DDS was conceptualized by former Integrated National Police Regional Commander Dionisio Tan-Gatue Jr. to fight the New People's Army's Sparrow Unit. Tan-Gatue allegedly used the late Juan "Jun" Pala, a known anti-New People's Army propagandist and radio commentator, to report stories about the death squad, which allegedly curbed executions perpetrated by the Sparrow Unit. By mid-1997, the DDS were deemed responsible for more than 60 unsolved murders in the city.
It is believed that the original members of the death squad included former members of the Sparrow Unit. Initially the death squad had around 10 members. This increased to around 500 by 2009.
Members of the death squad were managed by police, according to Human Rights Watch. These officers provided the assailants with training, weapons and ammunition, motorcycles, and information on the targets. Lists of targets were drawn up by police or barangay (village or district) officials. Information might include a name, address and a photograph. Local police stations were allegedly pre-warned to facilitate the murders and the escape of the assailants. According to testimony by Edgar Matobato in a 2016 Senate hearing he was assigned to kill certain targets that the police wanted dead such as like drug pushers, rapists, snatch thieves, etc. in the allegations.
Witnesses reported that police officers took a surprisingly long time to respond to incidents, even where these occurred in the vicinity of police stations. Officers neglected to follow basic investigative procedures, such as collecting bullet casings from the street. Human Rights Watch reported that the standard tactics of the killers was to arrive in small groups of two or three on unlicensed motorbikes. Victims would be stabbed or shot without warning during daytime in public areas, such as bars, cafes, markets, shopping areas, jeepneys or tricycles, and in the presence of numerous witnesses. Assailants were generally paid between PHP5,000 and PHP50,000 (US$114 – US$1,147) for an assassination, depending on the target.
There appears to have been a certain degree of public approval among citizens of Davao City for the actions of the death squad, primarily fueled by public discontent at "the arduous and ineffective judicial system" that created an environment where extrajudicial executions seemed to be a "practical resort" to suppress crime in the city. There were subsequent reports of death squads operating in other cities, including General Santos, Digos, and Tagum City in Mindanao as well as in Cebu City, the second largest city in the Philippines.