AN international watchdog has included President Rodrigo Duterte in a list of “populist” leaders that pose a threat to democracy, accusing him of flouting the law and inflicting a “human rights calamity” in the Philippines.

In a 704-page report reviewing human rights practices in more than 90 countries, Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted the wave of “unprecedented killings” by police and vigilante groups under Duterte’s “war on drugs.”