The Philippine government intends to appeal the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the re-opening of the investigation into the reported killings during the illegal drugs operation of then President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
The planned appeal was disclosed by Solicitor General Menardo I. Guevarra on Friday, Jan. 27, after being informed that the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber 1 (PTC-1) has been authorized by the ICC to re-open the probe.
Also to be investigated were the “killings” reportedly committed by the Davao Death Squad.
Guevarra said that while the Philippine government has not received an official copy of the ICC ruling, “It is our intention to exhaust our legal remedies, more particularly elevating the matter to the ICC appeals chamber.”
“We wish to emphasize that our own domestic investigative and judicial processes should take precedence, and we can show that despite structural and resource limitations in our legal system, it is still a well-functioning system that yields positive results in its own time,” he pointed out.
In its announcement last Thursday, Jan. 26, the ICC said the “Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court granted the Prosecutor's request to resume investigation into the Situation of the Republic of the Philippines.”
“Following a careful analysis of the materials provided by the Philippines, the Chamber is not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the Court’s investigations on the basis of the complementarity principle,” the ICC said in a statement.
“After having examined the submissions and materials of the Philippine Government, and of the ICC Prosecutor, as well as the victim's observations, the Chamber concluded that the various domestic initiatives and proceedings, assessed collectively, do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps in a way that would sufficiently mirror the Court’s investigation,” it said.
But the ICC said its conclusion “does not preclude the Philippines from providing material in the future in order for the Prosecution, or the Chamber, to determine inadmissibility of the investigation or of any actual case, if and when needed.”
Former President Duterte withdrew the Philippines’ membership in ICC in 2019 when the Hague-based tribunal started its probe on reported deaths and other human rights violations during the illegal drugs campaign and those allegedly committed by the Davao Death Squad.
The ICC-PTC on Sept. 15, 2021 granted the request authorization of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) “to initiate an investigation into crimes allegedly committed on the territory of the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019 in the context of the Government of the Philippines' ‘war on drugs’ campaign.”
The probe was deferred in November 2021 on request of the Philippine government.
The OTP on June 24, 2022 requested the chamber to resume the investigation. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan sought the resumption of the investigation as he claimed that the Philippines under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. had not provide evidence it was carrying out thorough inquiries.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) submitted on Sept. 8, 2022 its Observation on the Request of the OTP to Resume Investigation in the Republic of the Philippines.
The OSG’s submission sought to deny the request of the OTP to resume the investigation.
“Under the complementarity principle, state-level investigative proceedings should take precedence, thereby rendering the resumption of the OTP’s investigation into the Philippine situation unwarranted,” the OSG explained in its submission.
TAGS: #ICC #SolGen Guevarra #Illegal Drugs #Davao Death Squad