ICC welcomes PH openness on Duterte drug war probe
Metro Manila, Philippines – The Philippines' possible openness to the investigation of the Duterte administration's war on drugs is a welcome move, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said.
In a statement sent to NewsWatch Plus, the ICC said that the court's investigation, focusing on crimes allegedly committed on the territory of the Philippines between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, in the context of the so-called “War on Drugs” campaign, is ongoing.
"The Office welcomes cooperation from State Parties as well as increased engagement and cooperation from non-State Parties and looks forward to further exchanges with all relevant stakeholders," said the ICC.
The court added that it looks forward to discussions with national authorities, civil society, and others "to seek support for its investigations, as well as to discuss general matters of justice, accountability, and complementarity."
"With regard to questions on details of the Office’s investigation and its interactions with partners, the Office does not comment on operational matters with respect to ongoing investigations," it added.
There is no change in the policy on non-cooperation with the ICC, said Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, but possibly dealing with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) is another matter.
Bersamin made the statement in response to Justice Secretary Boying Remulla’s remarks suggesting a “softer stance” and the possibility of exploring areas of cooperation with the ICC.
“We have withdrawn from the ICC, membership from the ICC, and that withdrawal is now already in effect," said Bersamin during a Malacañang briefing. The country withdrew from the Rome Statute that created the ICC in 2019.
On the other hand, the Palace official said the situation would be different if the ICC routes its requests through Interpol.
“We have been very clear in our statements regarding this. If the ICC makes a move and routes the move through Interpol, and Interpol makes the request to us for the arrest or delivery of custody of a person subject to ICC jurisdiction, we will respond favorably or positively to the Interpol request, kasi nagbe-benefit din tayo sa Interpol in other cases [because we also benefit from Interpol in other cases],” said Bersamin.
He said, as a member of Interpol, the Philippines has an obligation to comply with its procedures.
“Hindi naman puwede sabihin na ICC ang nag-request sa inyo to come to us, hindi na namin kayo papansinin. Kung tayo ang magre-request sa Interpol, hindi na rin tayo papansinin niyan because that is comity ang tawag doon. Comity - pakikipag-kaibigan, makikipag-mabuting - you know what that means,” he said.
“It can’t be that if the ICC requests something from us, we’ll ignore it. If we were the ones making a request to Interpol, they would ignore us, because that’s called comity. Comity – friendship, camaraderie – you know what that means,” he said.
“Interpol should always be respected, because Interpol is also doing us a service in other areas, similar to this. So, that’s the meaning of comity," Bersamin added.
