The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has formally requested the resumption of investigations into the controversial war on drugs campaign of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
The request comes seven months after it was suspended due to the request of the government.
"I have concluded that the deferral requested by the Philippines is not warranted, and that the investigation should resume as quickly as possible," ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement issued in The Hague," ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a 53-page document posted on ICC's website on Friday.
Khan argued that the Philippine government has failed to demonstrate that it has investigated numerous cases of killings in its police operations.
"The Prosecution has carefully analysed the information submitted in support of the Deferral Request, and concluded that the GovPH has not demonstrated that it has investigated or is investigating its nationals or others within its jurisdiction within the meaning of article 18(2)," Khan wrote.
"The GovPH does not appear to be investigating whether any of the alleged crimes were committed pursuant to a policy or occurred systemically, or whether any person in the higher echelons of the police or government may be criminally responsible. For these reasons alone, the Court should not defer to the GovPH’s investigation," he added.
The ICC noted that no reference to the investigation was made before July 2016 or before Duterte took office. The international tribunal aims to also probe into killings by the Davao Death Squad when the outgoing president was still a mayor in the Southern city.
"Notably, the GovPH makes no reference at all to any investigation into crimes committed before July 2016, nor to any investigation into crimes other than murder—and, even then, only murders allegedly carried out in police operations, as opposed to murders allegedly carried out in other relevant circumstances," the office stated.
Khan’s request comes a year after Bensouda sought judicial authority for a full investigation of the rights situation in the country, reasoning that based on information gathered by her office, there is reason to believe that state actors have killed thousands of civilians under the war against illegal drugs.
In the same documents, Khan also noted that the Philippine government failed to show that “any individual has been investigated for ordering, planning, or instigating any of these killings, nor is there any indication that the domestic authorities are investigating the alleged systemic nature of these and other killings.”
Khan said the DOJ drug war review “does not appear to possess powers or authority independent of the DOJ or have any specific investigative function.”
As of May 31, 6,252 drug suspects have died in legitimate anti-drug operations, but human rights activists say the number could be greater, between 11,000 to 30,000.
