AMSTERDAM – Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday rejected an attempt by the Philippines to block an investigation into thousands of killings in the country during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs”.
In September 2021, the ICC approved a formal investigation into possible crimes against humanity allegedly committed under Mr Duterte’s leadership. But it suspended its probe in November 2021 at the request of the Philippines, which said it was carrying out its own investigations.
But in January 2023, the court said it was “not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations”, and prosecutors resumed their inquiry. The Philippines appealed against that decision in an attempt to block further investigation.
This was “rejected by the appeals chamber by majority”, Presiding Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said in a summary of the decision on Tuesday, upholding the lower court’s ruling supporting prosecutors’ investigation.
A majority of judges rejected all four points of Manila’s appeal, including that the ICC has no jurisdiction in the Philippines, and that the authorities there were conducting their own investigation.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in March 2019. But appeals judges ruled that prosecutors still have jurisdiction over the alleged crimes because those occurred when the Philippines was still an ICC member.
The ICC is probing Mr Duterte’s signature anti-narcotics campaign that led to the deaths of thousands of drug suspects. Government data showed some 6,000 suspected drug dealers were killed by security forces in anti-drug operations from the time Mr Duterte took office in mid-2016 till his term ended in 2022.
Rights groups say many thousands more were assassinated in slum communities, most of them users killed by mystery gunmen who were never caught, and accuse the police of involvement.
The ICC judges’ assessment of material presented by prosecutors was that “the so-called war on drugs campaign cannot be seen as a legitimate law enforcement operation”, but rather amounted to a systematic attack on civilians.
Mr Duterte and his police chiefs say the killings were in self-defence, while his government insists the ICC has no right to meddle in the country’s affairs. REUTERS
