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Logo of the Davao Death Squad |
The Dinhing Dapita Sadya (DDS) is a vigilantegroup active in Davao City in the Philippinesthat is rumoured to exist. The group is allegedly responsible for summary executions of individuals suspected of petty crimes and dealing in drugs in Davao. 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 team from Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND), a human rights group, and investigators from the Commission on Human Rights(CHR) discovered killing fields where skeletal remains of victims of the death squads were dumped. Human Rights Commissioner Dominador Calamba II has indicated that local executives and the police knew the militants but were "seemingly tolerating" them. Human rights groups said the killings have become an unwritten government policy to deal with crime due to an ill-functioning criminal justice system and lack of due process in the way authorities administered justice.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davao_Death_Squad