US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should press President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines to prosecute military members responsible for politically motivated killings.

Courts in Davao City and Manila should cooperate fully with investigations into death squad killings, in line with recent recommendations by a UN body, instead of undermining efforts to bring killers to justice.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child should press the Philippines government to take meaningful steps to investigate death squad killings and prosecute the perpetrators.

During the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s review of the Philippines on September 15, 2009, we urge you to give special attention to the execution-style killings of children by “death squads” that operate with virtual impunity in Davao City and elsewhere in the Philippines.

In Davao City, death squads kill suspected petty criminals, gang members and street children with alarming frequency.

MYTHS and complacency - when it comes to the Davao Death Squad (DDS) killings, that is what citizens of Davao City have been living with. But a decade and more than 800 unsolved murders later, can the authorities really deny that a death squad exists? A new report by Human Rights Watch, "You Can Die Any Time: Death Squad Killings in Mindanao" proves that a death squad exists in Davao City , and debunks the myths and justifications that local officials have relied on to avoid any serious investigation into the killings.

When does closing one’s eyes to mass murder become encouragement? The Philippines present that question head-on.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should immediately and unambiguously acknowledge the existence of a death squad responsible for killing hundreds of suspected criminals and street children in Davao City, and condemn such murders.