While the government's litigation team anticipates that the International Criminal Court (ICC) will decide today to send prosecutors to investigate alleged abuses in the administration's drug war, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is determined to prevent the ICC from gathering evidence on Philippine soil.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is challenging a decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to authorize its prosecutors to examine drug-related executions committed by authorities under Duterte's presidency and as mayor of Davao City.
In a statement released on July 16, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra stated that if the government's appeal is denied, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and his team, who are managing the case for the international tribunal, will have the ability to resume their investigation. Investigation.
An ICC pre-trial chamber previously granted an investigation into alleged extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders, declaring the killings to be crimes against humanity.
The pre-trial chamber also held that any cases that may arise from the investigation appear to be within the court's jurisdiction.
The investigation, however, was halted in November 2021 at the request of the Duterte government.
In September of last year, ICC prosecutors led by Khan urged the PTC's pre-trial court to reopen its drug war investigation, noting multiple areas where the Marcos administration had failed to justify a deferral.
The OSG then responded to the PTC's request for comment on why the investigation should not be resumed on September 8, citing three arguments: the ICC's lack of jurisdiction over the Philippines, the drug war's inadmissibility under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, and the complementarity principle in international law.
In a clash with the government's senior litigators, ICC prosecutors said these arguments were not supported by compelling evidence that might persuade the ICC of the Philippines' competence to address suspected abuse cases on its own.
In addition to the Philippine National Police, the Administrative Order 35 task force, an inter-agency body chaired by the Justice Secretary, is investigating unsolved acts of political violence, whether through EJKs, enforced disappearances, torture, or other human rights crimes.
The Marcos administration, represented by the OSG, maintained in its submission to the PTC that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines and that the drug war killings from July 2016 to March 2019, as well as those in the Davao region between 2011 and 2016, when Duterte was mayor of Davao City, do not constitute "crimes against humanity."
After the ICC declared that it would launch a preliminary investigation into his drug crackdown, then-President Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. President Marcos had previously determined to avoid the ICC.
Following Khan's petition to resume the ICC probe last year, the Marcos administration chose to ignore the ICC prosecutors' counterarguments against the Philippines' attempt to halt the investigation into drug war killings, claiming that there was nothing the government could do to change Khan's mind about launching an investigation.
Guevarra stated that regardless of whether the government wins or loses its appeal, Philippine authorities will continue to focus on their own investigation and prosecution of the killings.
Remulla, for his part, stated that authorities would not assist ICC prosecutors, who would want government papers and interviews in order to compile enough evidence to charge Duterte administration officials.
Remulla reiterated, "They are not welcome in the Philippines.
He also stated that the Philippines will not allow the ICC to conduct an inquiry because the country has its own justice system, traditions, police, prosecutors, and courts.
The DOJ secretary went on to say that the ICC should instead focus on nations wracked by disaster and lawlessness.
Since June 2016, Duterte's divisive drug war has led to the arrest of over 300,000 drug suspects.
According to the most recent government data, 6,235 drug suspects were murdered in alleged shootouts with police.
However, campaigners and human rights organizations suspect that thousands more people may have been executed by security forces and vigilantes.
