News Roundup 27 January 2023
Jan 27, 2023 • 4 min Read
ICC resumes probe on PH’s drug war | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court has granted its prosecutor’s request to resume the investigation of the Philippines’ war on drugs during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“Following a careful analysis of the materials provided by the Philippines, the Chamber is not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the Court’s investigations on the basis of the complementarity principle,” the ICC said in a statement released Thursday.
In September 2021, the ICC prosecutor announced that it was opening a formal inquiry into the Duterte administration’s drugs war after several petitioners accused him and his subordinates, including his former police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, now a senator, of being responsible for the death of thousands of drug suspects.
But it halted the proceedings in November 2021 at the Philippine government’s request.
Even President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the ICC need not conduct its investigation since Filipinos “have a functioning judiciary.”
But the ICC said the Philippine government’s efforts to probe the drug war “do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps” that sufficiently mirror the ICC investigation.
Full Story at: ICC resumes probe on PH’s drug war | Global News (inquirer.net)
Marcos told: Comply with ICC probe to give justice to victims of Duterte’s drug war | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers and groups have sounded the call for the Philippine government to comply with the resumption of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation to serve justice to the victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
This came after the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber gave its go-ahead to the bid of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan to resume the probe into Duterte’s drug war and the Davao Death Squad killings.
Human rights lawyer and Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares said, “This is a positive development as victims of the fake drug war of the Duterte administration can still get justice even outside Philippine courts.”
He then called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to tread a different path from his predecessor and “instead respect human rights and due process.”
Full Story at: Marcos told: Comply with ICC probe to give justice to victims of Duterte’s drug war | Global News (inquirer.net)
Resumption of ICC ‘war on drug’ probe revives hope for justice – lawyers of victims’ kin | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Lawyers for families of “war on drugs” victims welcomed the decision of the International Criminal Court on Friday to resume its investigation into the alleged abuses in the Philippines’ bloody anti-narcotics campaign.
“Families of victims of extra-judicial killings (EJK) in the Philippines have long waited for justice. We started the process of filing a case of Crimes Against Humanity against President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018. However, we are happy to hear from the pre-trial chamber of the ICC that they have formally reopened their investigation into the war on drugs,” the statement from the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) on Friday read.
NUPL members Neri Colmenares and Kristina Conti, counsels of families of victims of extra-judicial killings in the ICC case, signed the statement.
Colmenares added separatelythat while a resolution is long overdue, “at least (former president Rodrigo Duterte) and his subordinates cannot claim that they were not accorded due process.”
Full Story at: Resumption of ICC ‘war on drug’ probe revives hope for justice – lawyers of victims’ kin | Philstar.com
Duterte rejects cooperation in ICC probe, while Dela Rosa looks to Marcos | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines (Updated 5:03 p.m.) — Former President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated Friday that he will never cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into his administration’s “war on drugs,” while the campaign’s architect, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, said his participation would depend on the Marcos administration.
Speaking through his former spokesperson, Duterte said “he would never allow foreigners to sit in judgment of him as long as Philippine courts are willing and able to do so.”
“He would humbly submit to the prosecution and judgment of any local court. He is ready to face any of his accusers,” former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
Dela Rosa, meanwhile, said his cooperation in the ICC’s investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed during the course of the drug war would depend if the government would also cooperate.
“If the Philippine government will allow them, I would have to cooperate. It is the government that is cooperating. I am part of the government, so why not,” he said in a virtual news briefing.Full Story at: Duterte rejects cooperation in ICC probe, while Dela Rosa looks to Marcos | Philstar.com
