Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday paved way for the prosecution office to resume its investigation into the Philippines’ brutal war on drugs.
Reopening the Case
Last year, Prosecutor Karim Khan requested judges’ permission to reopen the inquiry into Manila’s alleged crimes against humanity, carried out as part of its infamous war on drugs, between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.
The investigation was suspended in late 2021 after the Southeast Asian country argued that the ICC did not exercise jurisdiction in the case, and stated that it was already examining the case independently.
Today's #ICC decision to authorize the resumption of the #Philippines investigation finally opens up a credible avenue for justice for the victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s murderous ‘war on drugs’: https://t.co/jjnHbVQQ2k #JusticeMatters pic.twitter.com/Mb0CMNINoP
— Liz Evenson (@liz_evenson) January 26, 2023
Khan argued last year that the ICC must be allowed to reopen the case, as Manila’s request for deference “is not warranted.”
Agreeing to this on Thursday, a panel of judges said that after examining information from both sides, as well as comments from victims, it had decided to allow for the case to be reopened.
“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,” the panel of judges said.
Philippines’ Reaction
The Philippine government said on Friday that it intended to appeal the ICC’s decision to reopen the case.
Menardo Guevarra, the Philippine solicitor general, told AFP that Manila’s “intention” is to “exhaust” its “legal remedies, more particularly elevating the matter to the ICC appeals chamber.”
As the ICC resumes probe into #drugwar #DavaoDeathSquad killings in the Philippines, we should remind ourselves that the same brutal policy by Duterte continues under Marcos Jr., with 187 drug-related killings since the dictator's son became president in July. #endimpunity https://t.co/AylMjEYwze
— Carlos H. Conde 🇵🇭 (@condeHRW) January 26, 2023
“We wish to emphasise that our own domestic investigative and judicial processes should take precedence” over the ICC, he added.
Guevarra further stressed that “despite structural and resource limitations” in its legal system, the Philippines was capable of proving that “it is still a well-functioning system that yields positive results in its own time.”
The War on Drugs
Thousands have been killed for suspected involvement in the drug trade since former President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.
According to an ICC report released in 2021, the Philippines’ security forces and state-sanctioned “vigilantes” killed between 12,000-30,000 people suspected of being involved in the drug trade between 1 July 2016 and 16 March 2019.
Following the report’s release, Duterte denounced the ICC’s call for a probe, terming it “legally erroneous and politically motivated.”