PRESIDENT Duterte and his government will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed under his administration’s war against illegal drugs.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque yesterday and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo reiterated the ICC has no jurisdiction over the President and the Philippines because the country is no longer a party to the Rome Statute.
The ICC’s pre-trial chamber approved on Wednesday the request of its former chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to authorize the full-blown probe into Duterte’s drug war even after the Philippines already cut ties with the international tribunal.
Complainants have alleged that Duterte’s bloody campaign killed thousands of suspected drug peddlers, many executed by police, according to activists who say law enforcement agencies have killed with tacit backing of the president.
Government data shows 6,100 suspected drug dealers have been killed by security forces in anti-drug operations since Duterte took office in mid-2016. On the other hand, human rights groups have said that many thousands more were assassinated in slum communities, mostly users killed by mystery gunmen who were never caught.
Duterte and his police chiefs have said the killings were in self defense, while his government insists the ICC has no right to meddle in the country’s affairs.
The ICC said its pre-trial chamber found reasonable basis to proceed with the investigation into the alleged crime against humanity following alleged killings committed during the drug war from July 1, 2016 to March 16, 2019, and in the alleged deaths committed in Davao City by a so-called Davao Death Squad from November 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016.
In a virtual briefing from New York, Roque said: “If there are complaints, it should be filed in the Philippines because our courts are working. The ICC has no jurisdiction.”
He said the ICC can only come in if the country’s courts are not functioning or refuse to try any complaints.
He added that when the Philippines initially signed the Statute of Rome, the country did not surrender its jurisdiction and sovereignty.
He believes that the case will just “sleep” in the ICC courts as the country will not cooperate.
Panelo, in an interview, echoed a previous statement of the President that even while the Philippines had initially signed the Rome Statute, it never took effect in the country since it wasn’t published in the Official Gazette.
The ICC previously said it retains jurisdiction over the alleged crimes that were committed while the country was still a member of the tribunal. The Philippines withdrew from the ICC on March 17, 2019.
In a statement, Panelo said the administration is neither bothered nor troubled by the ICC decision which he felt was politically motivated as it attempts to “dethrone the President from his seat.”
He also said that the ICC action was an attempt to meddle in the country’s domestic affairs, particularly its handling of its campaign against illegal drugs.
“While we expect that more theatrics will be employed by the detractors of the President as election season draws near, this blatant and brazen interference and assault on our sovereignty as an independent country by the ICC is condemnable,” he said.
Roque said President Duterte was unaffected by the ICC decision.
He also said that the stand of the President was that he would die first before he would face a foreign judge and that any complaints against the Chief Executive.
He said Duterte had just finished recording his Talk to the People address and was already going through some documents when he informed him of the ICC decision.
“Wala po, wala pong reaksyon (None, there was no reaction),” he said as he described how the President reacted or what he said after learning of the ICC decision.
The ICC announced the start of the probe on its website Wednesday night.
“The Chamber found that there is reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, noting that specific legal element of the crime against humanity of murder under Article 7 (1)(a) of the Statute has been met with respect to the killings committed throughout the Philippines between 1 July 2016 and 16 March 2019 in the context of the so-called “war on drugs” campaign as well as with respect to the killings in the Davao area between 1 November 2011 and 30 June 2016,” the ICC said.
March 16, 2019 was the date when the Philippines formally exited the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.
Duterte was vice mayor of Davao city in 2011 as he gave way to his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, for the top position due to term limits.
The ICC said that based on the facts gathered, the so-called “war on drugs” campaign initiated by Duterte immediately after he won the 2016 presidential race and the killings that took place under the crackdown were not legitimate law enforcement operations. — With Ashzel Hachero, Raymond Africa, Wendell Vigilia and Victor Reyes
