The International Criminal Court (ICC) will struggle to build its case against President Rodrigo Duterte over alleged crimes against humanity in his bloody war on drugs, the Palace said Tuesday.
Responding to a report that the ICC called on families of drug war victims to come forward, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the tribunal “can do whatever it wants” but it will have a hard time building a case with the state’s cooperation.
Duterte has consistently refused to cooperate with the ICC investigation.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Guillermo Eleazar, however, vowed his agency’s “full commitment” to the United Nations Joint Program on Human Rights, which aims to promote a human rights-based approach to combatting terrorism and illegal drugs.
The UN resident coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez said the joint program was “a critical milestone.”
“This is the first ever UN joint program on human rights in the Philippines, where we put together the capacities and resources of the UN in support of a wide range of national institutions. And the PNP is a central partner in this undertaking.”
At a meeting with Gonzalez, Eleazar said that “he appreciates the UN’s commitment to cooperate with the government of the Philippines.”
He added that “the PNP has opened its office to any queries on human rights from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and that the PNP is committed to give its full support to the joint program.”
On Friday, Raul Pangalangan, who recently ended his six-year term as a judge at the ICC, said the tribunal has begun accepting information from the families of victims of the government’s war on drugs.
“If you go to the ICC website, there’s already a call for the victims to step forward,” Pangalangan said.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who retired on June 15, conducted a preliminary examination on the extrajudicial killings associated with the drug war from the start of the Duterte presidency to March 16, 2019, when the Philippines withdrew its membership from the ICC.
Pangalangan also said Bensouda made the request to the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) for an authority to investigate as early as May 24, but this was made public only on June 14, the day before her retirement.
If the PTC grants the request, the new prosecutor, Karim Khan, will handle the investigation.