A LAWYER assisting relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) of the brutal anti-illegal drugs crackdown of the previous administration yesterday said over 1,500 individuals are eyeing to participate in the crimes against humanity case against former president Rodrigo Duterte pending before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti clarified that there is a difference between “participating victims” and “victim witnesses.”
“The (participating) victims’ primary responsibility is to air views, concerns, and interests, as against the victim witnesses tapped by the prosecution who will have to testify facts during the trial of the case,” Conti said in an interview with ABS CBN News Channel on Monday afternoon.
Conti said the 1,500 figure is based on the number of victims who took part in the “representation stage” four years ago when the ICC probed the drug crackdown of the Duterte administration.
“Our ballpark figure is 1,500 individuals, but we hope to surpass it this time,” she said.
To qualify as a participating victim, Conti said an individual must produce proof of identity (any government-issued identification card), proof of victimhood, relation or kinship to the EJK victim, and proof of harm that he or she has suffered.
“The deadline for the submission of these documents to the ICC is on August 27, or around a month before the confirmation of the charges against Duterte on September,” she said.
To ensure that the victims who will take part in the case will be able to comply with the August 27 deadline, Conti said their “Duterte Panagutin” network will help process their documents.
“This way, they can be presented as participating victims,” she added.
Earlier, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor said it has sent 181 pieces of evidence against Duterte to the pre-trial chamber, which earlier ordered the prosecution and defense teams to disclose by April the evidence they will use during Duterte’s confirmation hearing set on September 23 this year.
The chamber has also directed the prosecution to submit the number of written evidence it intends to present, and the original language of the evidence, as well as the language in which it will be made available.
The 80-year old Duterte first appeared before the ICC three days after he was arrested in Manila and flown to The Hague on March 11.
His next court appearance is on September 23 this year during the confirmation of the charges against him.
SENATE PROBE
Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos yesterday said Duterte’s allies in the Senate have asked the Committee on Foreign Relations, which she chairs, to hold another hearing on the circumstances related to the former president’s arrest last month.
In a chance interview in Cainta in the province of Rizal, Marcos said Senators Ronald dela Rosa, Robin Padilla, and Alan Peter Cayetano said there are still issues that need to be clarified on the arrest of the former president.
One issue is the ownership of the private jet that was used to bring Duterte to the Netherlands, and why the Marcos administration supposedly allowed ICC investigators to enter the country in October last year despite its pronouncements that it will not cooperate with the international court.
“Dahil hindi pa natutuklasan kung sino ang may ari ng eroplano at bakit nagkaganoon. Dahil may ibang version, binayaran daw, chartered daw ng Office of the President, samantalang sabi ng iba, ginagamit yan ng Presidente Bongbong (Because the owner of the Lear jet has not yet been identified, and why things went that way. There are versions being floated that the jet was paid for, chartered by the Office of the President, while there are also reports that the jet was also used by President Marcos),” Marcos said.
She said another important thing to be discussed is the reported presence of ICC investigators in the country last year.
“Pero ang pinaka importante yung ICC, yung mga investigators, abogado, at iba pang tauhan nila na interpreter, security expert nandito na pala sa Pilipinas noong nakaraang taon pa. Walang gustong magsalita tungkol dyan kaya kailangan nating malaman ano ba talaga. So marami pang dapat alamin
(But the most important issue is the ICC, its investigators, lawyers, and other personnel like interpreters, security experts, were here in the Philippines since last year. There were no resource persons present who wanted to talk about this. So, there’s still a lot to determine),” she added.
Marcos, however, said the foreign relations committee is likely to have a hard time inviting resource persons to the hearing, adding that no one wants to talk about the presence of the ICC investigators in the country.
She also said government officials who would attend the hearing, if any, would likely also invoke executive privilege.
She added resource persons might likewise decline the committee’s invitation for fear of being cited in contempt.
“Tignan natin kung may testigo pa… Kung hindi naman eh gagawa na muna ako ng findings in the meantime para antabayanan na lang ng taumbayan (Let’s see if we can still have witnesses to attend… If none, in the meantime, I will come up with the committee’s findings that I can show to the people),” she said.
The Marcos panel has held three hearings to determine if the rights of Duterte were observed when he was arrested on March 11 soon after returning to the country from Hong Kong. The first hearing was held on March 20, followed by another hearing on April 3, and the third was on April 10.
Cabinet members who were invited did not attend the second hearing, saying they have answered all the questions thrown by the senators during the first hearing.
On March 27, the committee came out with its initial findings based on the first hearing, saying it found that irregularities attended the arrest of Duterte, an allegation that has since been refuted by Malacañang. – With Raymond Africa
