MANILA, Philippines -- A Philippine senator who led an investigation into the president's deadly anti-drug campaign was ousted Monday from the justice committee in a vote that human-rights advocates said could derail accountability in the crackdown.
President Rodrigo Duterte's allies led the vote that removed Sen. Leila de Lima from the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which has spearheaded an inquiry into the widespread killings of drug suspects that have alarmed President Barack Obama, United Nations officials and human-rights watchdogs.
More than 3,000 drug suspects have died in the crackdown since Duterte assumed the presidency June 30. More than 600,000 others have surrendered to authorities for fear they also would be killed.
De Lima's ouster "is a blatant and craven move to derail accountability for the appalling death toll from President Rodrigo Duterte's abusive 'war on drugs,'" U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said. "The Senate is showing greater interest in covering up allegations of state-sanctioned murder than in exposing them."
The group called on senators opposed to Duterte's tough tactics to seek de Lima's reinstatement.
Senators allied with Duterte, however, said the investigation into possible police abuses in the killings would continue under Sen. Richard Gordon, who was designated to replace de Lima.
De Lima has had a running feud with Duterte. As the former head of the government's human-rights commission, she investigated Duterte's alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings of criminals when he was mayor of southern Davao city, where he built a name for his tough crime-busting style.
"I know that the president is behind this," de Lima told reporters.
Duterte has accused de Lima of involvement in illegal drugs, alleging that her former driver took money from detained drug lords. She has denied the allegations, but the president's allies in the House of Representatives are to begin an inquiry today.
A Section on 09/20/2016