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| The International Criminal Court in The Hague, The Netherlands (Photo from the ICC website) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] MANILA — Although the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has found grounds to prosecute crimes against humanity in President Duterte’s war against illegal drugs, the first step of the process will likely take at least three months PH Inquirer reported. Param-Preet Singh, a lawyer with the Human Rights Watch, said the case was submitted to the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber by former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda who determined that members of the Philippine National Police illegally killed several thousand civilians from 2016 -2019.
Singh said that for the case to move forward, the judges of the PTC would examine if the prosecutor had “presented reasonable grounds to proceed and that she’s adhered to the [Rome] Statute” that created the ICC. Singh made the remarks in an online forum with journalists in Manila and HRW officials from New York and Geneva on Wednesday evening. But the day before, Malacañang said it would not cooperate with the ICC because the Philippines, which was a party to the Rome Statute from Nov. 1, 2011, withdrew from the ICC on March 17, 2019.
Leftist lawmakers mocked Malacañang’s position and dared the President to cooperate with the ICC. For Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, Mr. Duterte “may not even want to participate in the investigation but, eventually, the long arms of justice will catch you.”
