A COALITION of human rights defenders and a lawyers group called on the International Criminal Court to continue its investigation on the bloody war on drugs of the Duterte administration.
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines and the National Union of Peoples Lawyers said there is a need for the ICC to continue with the conduct of a full-blown probe on the drug war killings and human rights violation.
“The temporary suspension of the ICC investigation rewards President Duterte and further victimizes those who gave evidence in support of ICC’s probe,” ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy said.
At the House of Representatives, Rep. Carlos Zarate (PL, Bayan Muna) said those responsible in the Duterte administration for the “bloody crime against humanity” should not rejoice yet over the suspension of the ICC investigation.
“The so-called suspension is merely part of the ICC procedure to afford due process to the Philippine government, the same due process denied to thousands of ordinary Filipinos slaughtered in Duterte’s war on drugs,” said Zarate, a lawyer.
The militant lawmaker expressed confidence the ICC prosecutor will eventually rule that the so-called domestic accountability mechanism that is supposed to be functioning “is a big farce.”
“For instance, of the more than 6,000 officially acknowledged killings during anti-drug operations since July 1, 2016, how come only 52 are being investigated? Why only now, after the Philippines already withdrew from the Rome Statute and after it refuse to acknowledge the ICC jurisdiction? Also, how can the victims seek accountability when President Duterte, the principal respondent, is himself immune from domestic suit?” he said.
Zarate joined the lawyers and relatives of the victims of the drug war “in entreating the ICC prosecutor to deny any such deferral request and, instead, continue with the conduct of a full-blown investigation into the drug-war atrocities.”
“Years have already passed after the killings, the prolonged and still continuing suffering of their families in seeking justice should now be put to an end. Those responsible may have delayed the proceedings now, but, they cannot forever avoid the long arms of justice from catching up with them,” he said.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, one of the respondents in the ICC case, welcomed the suspension as he said the ICC’s move only showed that the new prosecutor handling the complaint is “open-minded” compared to Fatou Bensuoda, the former ICC prosecutor who handled the case.
“It is an indication na itong bagong prosecutor ay medyo open-minded, hindi kagaya nung si Fatou Bensuoda na sarado ang utak. Ewan ko ba kung bakit sarado ang utak (It is an indication that the new prosecutor is more open-minded unlike Fatou Bensuoda who is narrow-minded. I don’t understand why she’s like that),” dela Rosa told radio dzBB.
He said the suspension of the investigation is good as the ICC can concentrate investigating other countries with known crimes against humanity.
Murphy said the coalition is “extremely disappointed” with the ICC’s temporary suspension of the conduct of the investigation especially after Bensouda found credible evidence that crimes against humanity took place in the anti-drug crackdown.
“Any suspension or delay is an absolute betrayal of those brave individuals who came forward at grave personal risk to provide evidence and testimony regarding these alleged crimes,” Murphy added.
The ICC Office of Special Prosecutor Karim Khan temporarily suspended its investigation on the said cases after Manila requested the ICC to defer to the domestic probe of the allegations.
The prosecutor, however, said it will continue to receive and analyze additional information to determine the future of the investigation.
In asking for the deferment, the government cited the referral of the Department of Justice to the National Bureau of Investigation of 52 “nanlaban” cases wherein deaths occurred in police anti-drug operations. The DOJ earlier said 154 policemen were involved in the operations. The NBI is now doing its case build-up, and if evidence warrant, will file criminal cases against the policemen before the courts. The DOJ noted police violation of protocols as well as the excessive use of force against some of the victims.
Murphy said the findings of the first and second reports of the Independent International Commission on Investigation into Human Rights Violations in the Philippines (Investigate PH) clearly showed the flaws and failures of a domestic investigation.
“The ICC needs to restart its investigation of all the evidence it has before it and gives justice to the tens of thousand of Filipinos murdered at President Duterte’s repeated incitement,” he said.
For its part, NUPL said “domestic” investigations and remedies have proven “utterly ineffective in stopping the drug war-related killings and other human rights violations in the context of the drug war.
“This belated action on the part of the government is nothing but an attempt at whitewashing the blood-soaked flagship program.It conspicuously excludes the possibility of investigating President Duterte and other high-ranking officials who are most responsible for these crimes against humanity,” the NUPL said.
“We ask the ICC not to allow itself to be swayed by the claims being made by the Duterte administration.These are so contrary to what is happening on the ground and should never be taken at face value,” it added. — With Wendell Vigilia and Raymond Africa
