ICC probe on govt's drug war an 'extraordinary remedy'—De Lima
Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday branded the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) full-blown investigation into the thousands of killings under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs as an “extraordinary remedy” for the Philippines.
De Lima said that since the domestic justice system can no longer be expected to provide genuine solutions to end the prevailing impunity and prevent further acts of justice, the ICC is a good avenue to thresh out these cases of extrajudicial killings happening in the name of the government’s war against drugs.
“Ideally, domestic problems of extrajudicial killings should be resolved domestically, employing our domestic constitutional and legal remedies of criminal investigation and prosecution,” De Lima said in a statement.
“In such cases, when the ‘ideal scenario’ fails to manifest itself in reality, there remains an international forum under which justice can be achieved if and when domestic remedies fail to provide a genuine solution,” she noted.
“The ICC provides such a forum,” the detained lawmaker stressed.
Last June 14, then ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that she has sought permission for a full-blown investigation to follow The Office of The Prosecutor’s (OTP) preliminary examination into the allegations against Duterte and other government officials involved in the current administration’s drug war.
The investigation covers the acts committed by the government from July 1, 2016 to March 16, 2019, or prior to Duterte’s decision to unilaterally withdraw the country from the Rome Statute.
De Lima recalled that the OTP, in that report, stated that there was a “failure to take steps to investigate or prosecute” extrajudicial killings in the drug war, aside from Duterte promising immunity for the perpetrators.
The ICC earlier issued a call for victims of Duterte’s drug war to come forward and submit their complaints before the international body detailing the circumstances of their kin’s death, whom they believe are responsible, when and where the events occurred and other details of their case.