Updated

The Philippine government has denounced 39 mostly Western nations, including the United States, Britain and France, which have urged it to end thousands of killings under President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug crackdown and allow an investigation in cooperation with the international community.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday that its diplomats told the countries, which issued a joint statement in Geneva expressing serious concern over human rights conditions in the Philippines, "to respect Manila's domestic processes."

The government, through its diplomatic mission to the United Nations in Geneva, said it takes "grave exception to the sweeping and politicized statement" delivered by Iceland on behalf of 38 other countries during a meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva this week.