The International Criminal Court announces that it authorizes the start of an investigation into the killings in the Philippines’ drug war.
The ICC said that its Pre-Trial Chamber 1 has granted former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s request to probe crimes “allegedly committed on the territory of the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019 in the context of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign.”
The court said that the case met a “specific legal element of crime against humanity of murder” during the Duterte’s war on drugs in the period from July 1, 2016—the day after President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office as chief executive—until March 16, 2019, the day before the Philippines formally exited the Rome Statute.
It will also look into the so-called Davao Death Squad killings between November 2011 to June 2016.
“The Chamber emphasized that, based on the facts as they emerge at the present stage and subject to proper investigation and further analysis, the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign cannot be seen as a legitimate law enforcement operation, and the killings neither as legitimate nor as mere excesses in an otherwise legitimate operation. Rather, the available material indicates, to the required standard, that a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population took place pursuant to or in furtherance of a State policy, within the meaning of Article 7(1) and (2)(a) of the Statute,”it added.
The country withdrew from the ICC that took effect in 2019.
“While the relevant crimes appear to have continued after this date, the Chamber noted that alleged crimes identified in the Article 15(3) Request are limited to those during the period when the Philippines was a State Party to the Statute and was bound by its provisions,” the ICC said.
President Rodrigo Duterte repeatedly hit at the ICC.
“Itong ICC [expletive] ito. I will not, why would I defend or face an accusation before white people. You must be crazy. ‘Yung colonizers do not atone for the sins against the countries they have invaded including the Philippines,” the president said.
