Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Monday, Nov. 22, urged victims and families of those who died during illegal drugs operations conducted by law enforcers to file their complaints directly with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Guevarra said: “I encourage the victims’ families to go directly to the DOJ and file their complaints directly with us. If they need legal assistance, we will refer them to PAO (Public Attorney’s Office).”
His call was made amidst reports of “distrust” from victims and families of those who died on the sincerity of the government to give them justice.
At the same time, Guevarra said that “if the victims and families of those who died need security protection, we will cover them under WPP (Witness Protection Program) and the DOJ will take it from there.”
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan had announced the suspension of the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Philippine government’s war against illegal drugs.
Khan was reported to have suspended the investigation after receiving a letter from Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Eduardo Malaya who sought a deferment of the proceedings since the Philippine government has already taken action, including the probe on the 52 cases reviewed by the DOJ.
A number of groups, including the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), have appealed to the ICC to resume its investigations.
“The actions taken by the ICC during the last few months had given them the faint glimmer of hope,” said the NUPL, the legal counsel of the group Rise Up for Rights and for Life which sought the ICC investigation.
“We cannot take that away from them now,” NUPL stressed.
FLAG, on the other hand, said that the DOJ investigation of the 52 cases of deaths in illegal drugs operations “covers only a fraction of the killings or attempted killings which occurred within the scope of the ICC investigation.”
“Of the 52 cases allegedly investigated by the DOJ, only 36 occurred within 1 July 2016 and 16 March 2019, and period covered by the ICC investigation,” it said.
“This figure is but 0.12% to 0.3% of the 12,000 to 30,000 persons killed during the period,” it added.
At the same time, FLAG lamented that the 52 cases do not include the killings that occurred in Davao from Nov. 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016.