WHEN he was in power Rodrigo Duterte taunted the ICC (International Criminal Court) every chance that he could get.
For example, in late 2019 he dared the ICC to jail him or hang him over alleged extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs. Speaking before military cadets, he said “if you hang me for all that I did, go ahead. It will be my pleasure.”
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A week before Duterte was set to leave office, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan moved for the resumption of investigation into the war on drugs that had earlier been deferred upon the request of the Department of Justice.
The Philippines had the opportunity to prove that it can mirror the kind of investigative activity that the ICC prosecutor normally undertakes in pursuit of their mandate.
However, the DOJ report failed because it was a mere “desk review” of three hundred cases of police violence perpetrated in the drug war.
The DOJ was unable to show that it is investigating Duterte, Bato dela Rosa, Vitaliano Aguirre, or those alleged to be the authors and implementors of Operation Tokhang and Oplan Double Barrel.
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In a television interview last week Harry Roque disclosed that he met with Duterte at the Rizal Park Hotel together with Solicitor-General Menardo Guevarra, former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the Chairman of the PCGG, and “someone” from the DOJ with the ICC as the “sole topic” of the discussion that ran for about “four hours.”
We are not sure whether this announcement was made with the concurrence of the other personalities identified in that meeting. They can always dispute Roque’s statement.
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Duterte is no longer President. He has shed his immunity from suit.
If Roque is to be believed that the former President must be investigated and prosecuted locally, then the incumbent Sol-Gen and DOJ officials will have to explain why they attend meetings with a potential principal respondent in conceivably hundreds if not thousands of murder and homicide cases.
These officials must be impartial when cases against Duterte et al. are officially brought to their attention.
If at all, this proves Khan’s argument in seeking authority to resume investigation. Philippine authorities are not exerting serious efforts to investigate and eventually prosecute Duterte, et al.
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Duterte, Roque and dela Rosa are now on a campaign to awaken pro-Filipino sentiments by painting a Philippines vs. ICC scenario.
They assert that we have a functioning court system. Any investigation and prosecution in relation to the war on drugs must accordingly be done before Philippine judicial authorities. The “whites” and other foreigners have no business interfering in our domestic affairs.
Sovereignty and international cooperation are not warring concepts.
Extradition is one such example. Nations sign treaties that extend the long arms of the law to areas where criminals are hiding to frustrate the ends of justice. A State that gives up a sojourning criminal necessarily surrenders a measure of its sovereignty to the requesting State.
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It is not the country or the State that will be indicted before the ICC. It is the individuals who abused high positions of power to commit crimes against humanity who will be made to answer should their home State be “unable” or “unwilling” to prosecute them.
The body language of this new government indicates that it shares the previous administration’s unwillingness to prosecute Duterte and others. Philippine sovereignty seems to be the favorite defensive slogan.
The Philippine Supreme Court, while it has dismissed a petition seeking to reverse our withdrawal from the ICC because of mootness, has already ruled that the ICC has jurisdiction to hear and decide allegations of criminal conduct prior to the effectivity of the withdrawal in 2019.
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Even then, the respondents will not be able to cite local rulings to stop the proceedings before the ICC.
So, who is afraid of the ICC?
We are guessing those who continue to hide behind the veil of sovereignty./PN
