De Lima ikinatuwa ang imbestigasyon ng ICC sa drug war

MANILA, Philippines — Pinuri ni Sen. Leila De Lima ngayong Biyernes ang hakbang ng International Criminal Court (ICC) sa The Hague na magpasimula ng isang preliminary investigation ukol sa kampanya ng pamahalaan kontra ilegal na droga.

Itinuturing ni De Lima, na kasalukuyang nakakulong sa Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center sa Camp Crame, ang nasabing imbestigayon bilang katuparan ng kanyang pangarap at umaasang ito na ang pagtatapos ng kanyang tinaguriang “Duterte kakistocracy.”

“The decision of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to start a preliminary examination on the Philippine situation—preliminary to an investigation that will eventually charge this government, its leaders and all those complicit in the mass murder of thousands in its so-called drug war—is the fulfillment of a hope and a dream,” wika ni De Lima.

Tutukuyin aniya ng nasabing paglilitis ang umano’y mga pagkakasala at paglabag sa karapatang pantao ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte kaugnay na rin ng kaniyang giyera kontra droga.

“It is a wish granted that indeed no crime should go unpunished, even in countries ruled by strongmen and self-avowed dictators, where those culpable for the gravest crime of mass murder can no longer be prosecuted in their own domain because of the reign of impunity,” dagdag niya.

Kinumpirma ni Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque nitong Huwebes na magsasagawa ang ICC ng imbestigasyon kaugnay ng umano’y extrajudicial killings sa bansa.

Nauna rito'y nagsampa si Jude Josue Sabio, abogado ng umano’y Davao Death Squad hitman na si Edgar Matobato, noong Abril 2017 sa ICC ng kaso laban kay Duterte at 11 pang opisyal ng pamahalaan.

Sa naipasang reklamo, tinawag ni Sabio ang pangulo bilang “mass murderer”.

Dagdag ng senadora na hindi makatatakas si Duterte sa nalalapit niyang pagharap sa mga kasong pagpatay sa mga sibilyan.

“This might be the beginning of his and his regime’s international isolation as a rogue criminal regime, its leaders and officials complicit in the murders hunted down and open to arrest in all signatory countries of the Rome Statute where they happen to set foot on,” ani De Lima.

“I am confident that in the process of examination, it will become clear that any hope of domestic accountability and prosecution for the thousands of killings is non-existent, and that only the mechanism of the ICC under the Rome Statute can exact justice on Duterte and all the men and women complicit in the greatest reign of homicidal terror this nation has ever witnessed,” patuloy niya.