International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has rejected the grounds raised by the Philippine government in its appeal before the ICC Appeals Chamber, opposing the country’s move to halt the ICC probe.
In a 59-page submission dated April 4, Khan said the Philippines “failed to show any error in the Decision” of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber authorizing the resumption of the drug war probe.
“[T]he Prosecution respectfully requests the Appeals Chamber to reject the Appeal and confirm the Pre-Trial Chamber’s authorization of the resumption of the Prosecution’s investigation in the Situation in the Philippines pursuant to Article 18(2) of the [Rome] Statute,” he said in an ABS-CBN report.
The Philippine government has been seeking to halt the ICC prosecutor’s probe on the killings connected to the drug war in the country and the alleged death squad in Davao. But the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber, in January this year, authorized the prosecutor to resume his probe.
Manila filed its appeal last March.
In its appeal, the Philippines said the ICC no longer had jurisdiction over the country when it launched its probe in September 2021 since the withdrawal from the ICC took effect in March 2019.
But Khan said what matters is the period when the alleged crimes were committed, and not when the investigation was opened.
“In the Philippines situation, the Prosecution was authorised to investigate Rome Statute crimes allegedly committed in the Philippines from 1 November 2011 until 16 March 2019— that is, when the Philippines was a State Party. That the Philippines was not a State Party when the investigation was opened (on 15 September 2021) is immaterial and does not the deprive the Court of jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed during the temporal scope of the investigation,” he said.
The Philippines then argued that the ICC cannot compel it to cooperate in its probe since it is no longer a state party to the international tribunal.
Both Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla had challenged the ICC prosecutor how he can continue his investigation without the compulsory processes, such as subpoenas, that only Philippine authorities can issue.
But for Khan, this is a misinterpretation of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision since the Chamber did not rule that the country is obliged to cooperate.
He pointed out that cooperation is not a precondition for the ICC to exercise its jurisdiction.
Khan said a state’s refusal to cooperate with the ICC does not deprive the court of jurisdiction over a situation it is investigating.