The International Criminal Court pre-trial chamber (ICC-PTC) on Thursday approved the request of Prosecutor Karim Khan to resume the investigation into the bloody war on drugs campaign during the Duterte administration.
In the <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2023_00245.PDF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">42-page decision</a> signed by ICC presiding judge Peter Kovacs, the ICC-PTC said the country&rsquo;s domestic initiatives and proceedings &ldquo;do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive steps being carried out with a view to conducting criminal proceedings, in a way that would sufficiently mirror the Court's investigation as authorized in the Article 15 Decision.&rdquo;
It pointed out that the Philippine court only addresses the &ldquo;physical, low-ranking perpetrators&rdquo; and does not &ldquo;extend to any high-ranking officials.&rdquo;
The ICC-PTC also said that the government failed to show that it has conducted an investigation and prosecution on the following issues:
<ul>
<li>the alleged killings in Davao from 2011-2016</li>
<li>crimes other than murder committed in connection with the &lsquo;war on drugs'</li>
<li>killings outside official police operations</li>
<li>the responsibility of individuals beyond the physical perpetrators of the alleged crimes.</li>
</ul>
The chamber also underlined that it is not satisfied that &ldquo;the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations, or is making a real or genuine effort to carry out such investigations and any subsequent criminal prosecutions."
According to the ICC-PTC, the decision to resume the probe was made after a thorough examination of the materials submitted by Khan, the Philippine government, and the families of drug war victims.
In 2021, the ICC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/icc-prosecutor-suspends-probe-into-philippines-drugs-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspended&nbsp;</a>the probe into the suspected human rights abuses during the drug war following the request of the Duterte administration to defer it.&nbsp;
The Prosecutor&nbsp;then sought the <a href="https://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/icc-prosecutor-seeks-resumption-of-probe-over-duterte's-war-on-drugs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resumption&nbsp;</a>of the investigation in June 2022.
But in September 2022 the government then <a href="https://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/osg-asks-icc-to-deny-request-to-resume-drug-war-probehttps://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/osg-asks-icc-to-deny-request-to-resume-drug-war-probe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked </a>the chamber to deny Khan's request, citing that the ICC has &ldquo;no jurisdiction over the situation in the Philippines.&rdquo;
Khan <a href="https://www.dzrh.com.ph/post/icc-prosecutor-opposes-ph's-request-to-stop-resumption-of-drug-war-probe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">countered </a>the appeal of the government and reiterated his request to the Chamber to order the resumption of the investigation.

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ICC approves resumption of probe on PH war on drugs