‘ICC should allow Philippines panel to finish review’

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ inter-agency review panel should be allowed to finish its review of cases involving suspects killed in President Duterte’s war on drugs before the International Criminal Court (ICC) intervenes, a diplomat said.

Manila’s representative took issue with the report’s reference to crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction that were allegedly committed in Philippine territory, in the context of the anti-drug campaign.

“The precipitate move of the (ICC) prosecutor, as captured in the report, is a blatant violation of the principle of complementarity, which is a bedrock principle of the Rome Statute,” permanent representative to the United Nations Enrique Manalo said during a meeting at the UN last week.

The ICC authorized the opening of an investigation on Duterte and his bloody war on drugs and alleged crimes related to extrajudicial killings.

The Pre-Trial Chamber 1 of the ICC granted the request of its prosecutor to begin an investigation in relation to crimes allegedly committed in the Philippines between Nov. 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019 when Duterte was mayor of Davao City and later president of the republic.

Before she stepped down from office, former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda filed last June 14 a public redacted version of the request to open an investigation into the situation in the Philippines.

Manalo said his country will disassociate itself from the resolution welcoming the Court’s 2020/21 report, which contains references to the Philippines under Section II, update on judicial and prosecutorial activities, in relation to crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court allegedly committed on Philippine territory in the context of the war on drugs.

He said the Philippines finds deeply regrettable the actions by the Court’s then-outgoing prosecutor to seek judicial authorization to proceed with an investigation of the situation in his country.

The ambassador emphasized that the inter-agency review panel headed by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra was established to reinvestigate cases involving fatalities in the campaign against illegal drugs, and the panel should be allowed to finish its work.

Manalo said the Philippine government has recently signed with the UN its first-ever joint program on human rights in the Philippines, which puts together the capacities and resources of the UN in support of a wide range of national institutions.

Those actions, he said, affirm the Philippines’ adherence to human rights norms and its long track record of constructive engagement with international and regional partners in human rights promotion and protection.

Notwithstanding the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, he reaffirmed its commitment to fight against impunity or atrocity crimes, noting that it has national legislation punishing such crimes.

He pointed out that the state parties to the Rome Statute envisioned a court with complementary, not primary, jurisdiction for the prosecution of persons most responsible for the most serious crimes of international concern.