PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday threatened to arrest any investigators from the International Criminal Court who would dare enter the country to investigate the government’s war on drugs, saying the UN tribunal has no jurisdiction in the Philippines.
In a speech in Davao after arriving from China, Duterte said the ICC wants to portray him to the world as a human rights violator, citing the numerous deaths of suspected drug pushers and users under the government’s “Oplan Tokhang.”
He also slammed ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda for insisting on conducting an investigation, even though the Philippines is no longer an ICC member.
Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC last month and promised to continue the fight against illegal drugs, which has seen thousands of drug suspects killed.
“What is your authority now? If we are not members of the treaty, why are you … in this country?” he said, addressing Fatou. “You cannot exercise any proceedings here without basis. That is illegal and I will arrest you.”
“So Ms. Fatou, don’t come here because I will bar you, not because I am afraid of you, [but] because you will never have jurisdiction over my person, not in a million years,” Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and English.
Bensouda announced in February the start of a preliminary examination into a complaint by lawyer Jude Sabio in April last year, accusing the President, the government and police officials of crimes against humanity.
Duterte said the bias shown by the ICC prompted the country’s withdrawal from it.
The President also instructed the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies not to cooperate with any foreign investigators.
Duterte said he would not be cowed by the ICC.
“I said, you can never call me to the International Criminal Court simply because your position is flawed. It cannot be corrected anymore, so stop your nonsense,” he said.
He chided the UN for being unable to do anything about bombing of hospitals in other countries in which children were being killed.
He also cited Myanmar—calling it by its old name, Burma—as an issue the ICC could not solve.
“There are a lot of human rights violations in Burma, so what are they doing?” he said, apparently referring to the persecution of the Muslim Rohingya, which the UN has likened to ethnic cleansing.
Earlier, Duterte had defended Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi from critics who said she was not doing enough to stem the Rohingya crisis.
On Friday morning, Duterte apologized to Suu Kyi for calling the Rohingya crisis a “genocide,” and said his statement was “almost a satire.”
In a speech April 5, Duterte, expressed pity for the Rohingya Muslims and offered them refuge in the Philippines. His remarks drew a strong rebuke from a Myanmar government spokesman.