DRUG war victims in the Philippines “overwhelmingly support” a full-blown investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into alleged extrajudicial killings and other crimes carried out in relation to the government’s war against illegal drugs.
In an initial reporrt dated August 27, the ICC said 94 percent, or 192 of the 204 victim representations submitted, backed the request for authorization made by former Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to investigate potential crimes against humanity that were committed related to the drug war.
Bensouda had asked for authorization for an investigation into the drug war deaths in the Philippines amid the investigation of local authorities into cases that resulted from the bloody crackdown on illegal drugs. The request for judicial authorization was made by Bensouda on May 24 before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber headed by Presiding Judge Peter Kovacs and Judges Reine Alapini-Gansou and Maria del Socorro Flores Liera.
Under ICC rules, a prosecutor shall request for authorization from the Pre-Trial Chamber if he or she believes there is reasonable basis to proceed with the conduct of an investigation.
The ICC’s Victims Participation and Reparation Section (VPRS) said the 204 victims represented 1,530 individual victims and 1,050 families. Their response to Bensouda’s request was submitted to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber before the body wrapped up the Victims Representation stage two weeks ago.
“The VPRS notes that altogether, 192 forms indicated that the victims want the prosecutor to investigate the crimes committed in the context of the war on drugs. The main motivating factors invoked are genuine participation by an impartial international court, identifying and bringing the perpetrators to justice, ending impunity, preventing future crimes, knowing the truth about what happened to the victims and clearing their names of false accusations, and allowing for victim’s voices to be heard,”it said in its report.
“The representations received overwhelmingly support the OTP request. They also bring forward the victim’s views and concerns on the OTP request and on other related matters, including justice, the ICC, the potential scope of an investigation and the impact of the so-called “War on Drugs” has on victim’s lives and their society,” it added.
It also said that the “ICC judges will carefully analyze all information received and will issue their decision on the OTP request in due time.”
The ICC report likewise noted other potential crimes against humanity committed in the name of the drug war implemented by the Duterte administration since 2016 such as murder, torture, imprisonment, disappearance, and sexual violence.
With 181 representation, murder topped the list of crimes reported by the victims to the ICC, though half of them actually indicated murder took place with other crimes.
The report also said 79, or 39 percent, reported murder only, while 102 or 50 percent reported murder and other crimes. Only 23 forms reported no murder.
Meanwhile, 103 also reported other inhumane acts/torture, 54 for imprisonment or other severe deprivation, 28 for enforced disappearance, eight for attempted murder and three for sexual violence incidents.
The report said 203 reported physical harm, 204 psychological and social harm, 116 material harm and 79 substantial impairment of fundamental rights.
“The crimes reported in the transmitted representations were allegedly committed by the police and unidentified men usually wearing civilian clothes, bonnets, masks and who, in a number of cases, rode in tandem when committing the alleged crimes,” it said.
The representations submitted likewise voiced concerns over the effectiveness of the Philippine judicial system and its willingness and ability to investigate the alleged crimes.
“Legal processes within the country are manipulated/pressured by the State to the disadvantage of the victim’s families,” one of the submission said, while another stated:
“This justice is elusive here because it doesn’t work for the victims of the war on drugs, and the State condones these killings and torture, state authorities who perpetrated the human rights violations are not investigated.’”
Another said he wanted the ICC to investigate “because they did not do it. There is no justice here,” while one said they were “disillusioned with the domestic legal system and calls for an investigation of higher ups, in particular, President Duterte.”
The ICC clarified that the victims’ representation are not yet considered as evidence at this point but will help the Pre-Trial Chamber in deciding the OTP’s request for a probe on the deaths related to the crackdown on illegal drugs.
It also previously said that the submission “is not an application process for participation in court proceedings against an accused person or for obtaining reparations before the ICC.”
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said victims of alleged crimes against humanities in the country should seek redress and pursue their grievances domestically, as he reiterated that neither President Duterte nor the government would cooperate with the ICC probe since the country has already withdrawn from the Rome Statute that created the international body.
He also said that the Public Redacted Registry Report on Victims’ Representation submitted to the ICC was “more of the opinion of victims wanting the ICC probe rather than erosion of support of the Filipino people.”
He insisted that Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs is backed by 88 percent of the Filipino population based on local surveys.
“It is just unfortunate that the Office of the Prosecutor has been used by his ardent critics and detractors as a political tool. To reiterate, the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute gives us no obligation to cooperate with the ICC, including the opening of its preliminary examination. This however does not mean that the alleged victims cannot seek redress. The full gamut of the legal remedies under our domestic laws is and always will be available to them,” Roque said.
The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) said it is confident that the ICC will authorize its prosecutor to conduct a full-blown investigation into the killings.
“We are confident that with this clamor for justice and President Duterte’s weak arguments to avoid accountability, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber will ultimately grant the Office of the Prosecutor’s recommendation for formal investigation of all who are involved in these heinous crimes,” the NUPL said in a statement signed by its chair and counsel for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, Neri Colmenares.
NUPL also asked the ICC to also include in their investigation the killings and arrests of activists who are in the forefront of the campaign against the war on drugs.
In a related development, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Department of Justice will submit this week to President Duterte its findings on the review it conducted on the 52 drug war case files submitted by the PNP concerning deaths in anti-drug operations.
“We are submitting a report to the President regarding the findings of the DOJ on the 52 cases of drug deaths turned over to us by the Philippine National Police. The report will also include our recommendations,’ Gzuevarra said when asked for an update on the matter.
The 52 files is part of the 61 that the DOJ was granted access to, which involves findings of administrative liability against hundreds of police personnel for alleged misconduct in the conduct of anti-drug operations.
Aside from the PNP, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency had also submitted 107 case files to the DOJ for review. The PDEA case files covered the period July 2016 to June 2020. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
