MANILA, Philippines — Victims of Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs have called for the former president’s immediate trial on charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“At last, the Pre-Trial Chamber has decided that the ICC has jurisdiction in the pending case against president Rodrigo Duterte for crime against humanity. Let the trial begin,” lawyer Neri Colmenares, co-counsel for the families of victims of extrajudicial killings, said in a statement.
Colmenares also called for the immediate issuance of a warrant of arrest for Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, the chief of police when Duterte was mayor of Davao City and later president.
“The next step is the issuance of arrest warrants for Duterte subordinates like Ronald dela Rosa. We are glad that the ICC has finally laid to rest this oft repeated issue of jurisdiction. The fundamental principle of the Rome Statute of the ICC is that criminals who committed crimes at the time that his country is a member of the ICC must be made accountable,” Colmenares said.
“It’s the simple implementation of the rule that, you did the crime, then you do the time. This is contrary to Duterte’s claims that even if he ordered the EJK and other crimes, he cannot be punished because he withdrew the Philippines from the ICC. That is not justice,” he added.
Colmenares also asked Duterte to stop delaying proceedings in the ICC.
“The recent decision practically destroyed the claim of the Dutertes that he was kidnapped because the ICC has no jurisdiction. We ask president Duterte to stop employing delaying tactics and instead allow the confirmation of charges and trial to push through,” Colmenares said.
He said the families of the victims have long yearned for the justice which they were deprived of by Duterte.
“It is about time that the victims are allowed to submit their evidence and the stories of how their loved ones were mercilessly and brutally killed in the war on drugs. We believe that president Duterte is delaying the trial because he knows that he has no evidence to prove that he has nothing to do with the war on drugs. We wait with bated breath what he will present in the ICC trial to escape from being the first Asian convicted in the ICC,” Colmenares said.
Colmenares reiterated his long-held position that Article 127 declares that the ICC has jurisdiction even if the Philippines withdrew from the court.
“The Philippines signed the Rome Statute which contains a provision in Art. 127 that any withdrawal ‘shall not xxx prejudice the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective’... Since the matter is already ‘under consideration’ by the Court before the Philippines effectively withdrew from the ICC in 2019, the ICC’s investigation and therefore, jurisdiction, had already set in,” he said.
“Otherwise, the ICC will be toothless if presidents and prime ministers charged in the ICC can simply escape by withdrawing from the ICC. If Duterte won his argument, then his case will be a blueprint for dictators around the world on how to escape justice and accountability,” he added.