THE defense team of former president Rodrigo Duterte will focus on several core legal issues in next month’s confirmation of charges hearing before the International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber, questioning, among others, his alleged liability in the deaths during his administration’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs.
In a 3-page submission to the PTC dated August 22, Duterte’s chief legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, insisted Duterte is innocent of the crimes against humanity charges filed against him.
“In its oral presentation which will last 3 to 4 hours, the Defense will expand, inter alia, on a number of core legal issues which concern the mode of liability imputed to Mr. Duterte and the contextual requirements of crimes against humanity,” Kaufman said.
“For the sake of clarity and the historical record, Mr. Duterte did not commit any criminal offence. Mr. Duterte served his city and country, faithfully and with pride, for many years,” he added.
Aside from the oral presentation, Kaufman also envisages expending 30 minutes for its opening statement and the same period for its closing statement.
The PTC set the confirmation of hearing charges on September 23.
Earlier, the defense team renewed its request for the former president to be released to an undisclosed country subject to “any conditions deemed appropriate” by the PTC.
In a heavily redacted document, the defense team also told the PTC that the undisclosed country willing to accept the 80-year-old Duterte if granted interim release “continues to affirm its willingness to cooperate with the Court, to accept Mr. Duterte onto its territory, and to enforce conditions of release.”
In asking the chamber for interim release, Duterte’s camp said he is not a flight risk and that a country had accepted in principle to temporarily host him.
They also cited humanitarian considerations, saying he is already 80 years old.
The ICC Appeals Chamber named Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza as the presiding judge for Duterte’s request to disqualify ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan for a conflict of interest because he participated in a case involving the drug war in the Philippines.
They said Carranza, a Peruvian, has been a judge since March 2018. Her term will end in March 2027.
Before joining the ICC, Carranza was a senior national prosecutor in Peru’s efforts for the prosecution of crimes such as terrorism, grave violations of human rights, and crimes against humanity.
Earlier this month, Kaufman said it would not hinder proceedings of the PTC by seeking the disqualification of Khan, who is currently on leave due to allegations of sexual misconduct, in a major turnaround from its previous position.
In a related development, 303 drug war victims sought to participate in the pre-trial proceedings in the crime against humanity charges against Duterte.
The number, according to the Victims Participation and Reparations Sections (VPRS), is just a small percentage of the total number of drug war victims.
“The Victims Participation and Reparations Section received 303 application forms—a limited figure compared to the number of War on Drug victims who wish to participate in the Case,” read the redacted version of “Registry Report on Group C Applications for Victim Participation in Pre-Trial Proceedings” dated August 20.
“The annexes to the present transmission are classified as confidential ex parte Registry only and confidential redacted, because they contain identifying information of victim applicants,” it added.
But the VPRS said it has verified that the applicants have met its criteria, namely, “their identity as natural persons is established, they suffered harm, and the harm suffered is the result of the crimes that Mr. Duterte is charged with” in the international tribunal.
The VPRS also verified their identities through their Philippine government-issued IDs such as voter’s ID, DSW-issued cards, and barangay employment ID.
Some were also supported by affidavits certified by a lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office.
Last April, lawyers Joel Butuyan and Kristina Conti slammed the alleged move of Duterte’s defense team to limit the participation of drug war victims in the ongoing ICC proceedings.
In a document submitted to the PTC dated April 7, Duterte’s legal team urged the Court to come up with strict standards for verifying the identities of victims in relation to the crimes against humanity cases he is facing.
Kaufman also said there should be limitations on the types of identification documents it should accept from the victims who will participate in the case.
Butuyan said the kind of IDs being demanded by Kaufman are documents that are badges of wealth and privilege in the Philippines and ones that are mostly unavailable to poor victims, and who constitute the overwhelming number of the people killed in Duterte’s drug war.
