"The Supreme Court declared that the Philippines was bound to recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and cooperate with its processes."
On the heels of the Senate investigation into the alleged overpricing and cronyism involving a Chinese company, Pharmally Pharmaceuticals, Rodrigo Duterte faces an equally formidable challenge during his last year as president.
This is the investigation by The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) into his alleged human rights violations during his War on Drugs as mayor of Davao for 23 years and during the early part of his presidency, from June 30, 2016 until March 19, 2019.
The killings earned for the grizzled Davao leader the monikers, Duterte Harry or “The Punisher.”
Corruption and illegal drug killings could affect Duterte’s political future. In the past, most presidents were fallen by the issue of corruption and cronyism. No president has been defeated for alleged human rights violations. Corruption is the unmaking of nearly all Philippine presidents.
On September 15,, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court granted Prosecutor Fatou Bensuoda’s request to commence an investigation in relation to crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court allegedly committed on the territory of the Philippines between Nov. 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019. This is in the context of the so-called war-on-drugs campaign.
On June 14, 2021, the prosecutor, Bensouda, Gambian woman specializing in criminal law, filed a public but redacted version of the request to open an investigation. This was initially submitted on May 24, 2021, requesting authorization to commence an investigation into the Situation in the Philippines, as provided for in Article 15(3) of the Rome Statute.
Pre-Trial Chamber I — composed of Judge Péter Kovács, Presiding Judge, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera — examined the Prosecutor's request and supporting material. The Chamber also considered 204 victims' representations received pursuant to Article 15(3) of the Statute.
On Aug. 29, the ICC reported that 94 percent of the 204 representations filed before the court supported a formal investigation of the crimes committed in the president’s anti-drug campaign.
The 204 submissions represented 1,050 families acting on behalf of 1,530 drug war victims, according to human rights lawyer Kristina Conti.
In accordance with Article 15(4) of the Statute, the Chamber found that there is reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation.
In particular, the ICC noted that specific legal element of the crime against humanity of murder under Article 7(1)(a) of the Statute has been met with respect to the killings committed throughout the Philippines between July 1, 2016 and March 16, 2019 in the context of the so-called 'war on drugs' campaign, as well as with respect to the killings in the Davao area between Nov. 1, 2011 and June 30, 2016.
The Chamber stressed 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, said the ICC statement, the available material indicates, to the required standard, that a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population took place.
The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute recognizing ICC and its proceedings on March 17, 2018.
While the Philippines' withdrawal from the Statute took effect on March 17, 2019, the Court retains jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes that occurred on the territory of the Philippines while it was a State Party, from Nov. 1, 2011 up to and including March 16, 2019.
In July, our Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Duterte could not invoke the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute to evade investigation by the ICC prosecutor.
The Supreme Court declared that the Philippines was bound to recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and cooperate with its processes even after its withdrawal from the Rome treaty.
In its report last month, the ICC said almost all the families that accused the President of instigating the killings wanted accountability and justice.
The ICC report noted other crimes against humanity committed in the drug war: Murder, torture, imprisonment, disappearance, attempted murder, and sexual violence.
The government has acknowledged about 7,000 killings during Duterte’s presidency.
ICC cites local and international human rights groups to claim that the real figure was 12,000 to 30,000, including killings by state-backed vigilantes.
In the Sept. 15, 2021 ruling, the ICC judges approved the request by their prosecutor, Bensouda, to begin the investigation into potential murder as a crime against humanity.
Their assessment of material presented by prosecutors, who had asked for permission to investigate, 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.
Per ICC documents, in 2015, the Dangerous Drugs Board (“DDB”), the body tasked with defining the Philippines’ policy and strategy on drug abuse prevention and control, commissioned a nationwide survey which estimated that there were 1.8 million drug users in the Philippines, a figure cited by the Government of the Philippines as the official number of drug users.
In his public speeches, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has frequently inflated this number, claiming variously that there are “three million” and “four million addicts" in the Philippines.
From as early as February 2016 and throughout the War on Drugs, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency repeatedly reported that a high proportion of the country’s barangays were “drug affected” – meaning that a drug user, dealer (or “pusher”), manufacturer, marijuana cultivator, or other drug personality had been “proven” to exist in such locations – and indicated that the WoD should continue until all barangays could be considered cleared.
Throughout his tenure as mayor, 1988-1998, 2001-2010, and 2013-2016, a central focus of his efforts was fighting crime and drug use, earning him the nicknames “The Punisher” occasions, Duterte publicly supported and encouraged the killing of petty criminals and drug dealers in Davao City.
During Duterte’s tenure as mayor, Davao City police officers and the so-called “Davao Death Squad” (“DDS”), a vigilante group comprising both civilian and police members linked to the local administration, allegedly carried out at least 1,000 killings.
Those killings share a number of common features including the victim profile, advance warning to the victim, perpetrator’s profile, the means used, and the locations of incidents.
In 2016 and 2017, two men, including a retired police officer, claimed during Philippine Senate hearings to have been part of the DDS and to have been ordered and financed by then-Mayor Duterte to carry out extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals and drug personalities.
In 2016, Duterte ran for president. His platform centered on promises to launch a war on crime and drugs, by replicating the strategies he implemented during his time as Davao mayor.
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