MANILA – There was “reasonable basis” to believe that President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs spawned crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said.
In its “Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2020,” Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s office opened in February 2018 a preliminary probe into the slay of thousands of suspected drug users and peddlers, including those killed for allegedly resisting arrest or gunned down by law enforcers disguised as vigilantes.
“The Office is satisfied that information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and the infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm as other inhumane Acts were committed on the territory of the Philippines, in connection to the WoD campaign launched throughout the country,” Bensouda said.
The preliminary examination focused on allegations that President Duterte and senior members of law enforcement agencies and other government bodies “actively promoted and encouraged the killing of suspected or purported drug users and/or dealers, and in such context, members of law enforcement, including particularly the PNP, and unidentified assailants have carried out thousands of unlawful killings throughout the Philippines.”
The report also noted that many of the persons targeted “had been included on drug watch lists compiled by national and/or local authorities, and some of those targeted also included persons who had previously ‘surrendered’ to the police in connection with Oplan Tokhang.”
According to Bensouda, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and “capacity constraints” delayed her office’s goal to conclude its preliminary examination of Duterte’s drug war.
“Nonetheless, the Office anticipates reaching a decision on whether to seek authorization to open an investigation into the situation in the Philippines in the first half of 2021,” Bensouda said.
Responding to the report released by Bensouda, Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said it’s “legally erroneous” to bring all reports of human rights violations to the ICC.
“Gawin nila ang gusto nilang gawin, pero hindi natin kinikilala ang jurisdiction ng ICC,” Roque said in his virtual presser on Tuesday. “Kung walang kooperasyon, bakit ka pa magsisimula ng imbestigasyon?”
In March 2019, the Philippines quit the ICC, though the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal pledged to pursue its examination of alleged illegal killings in Duterte’s drug war./PN
