DOJ: UN special rapporteur to examine PH drug war probe in February

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30) — A United Nations (UN) special rapporteur will visit the country next month to assess local investigations into drug war killings, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday.

DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano called out the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to authorize the resumption of its own drug war probe because of the rapporteur’s scheduled visit.

“He (rapporteur) will be coming next month, kaya hindi rin maganda yung timing (ng ICC) dahil meron naman tayong ginagawa na cooperation sa international community,” Clavano said in a media briefing.

[Translation: The special rapporteur will be coming next month, so the ICC’s timing is off since we are already cooperating with the international community.]

In allowing the ICC probe to continue, the tribunal’s pre-trial chamber said it was not convinced that Philippine authorities are “making a real or genuine effort” to resolve drug war-related cases.

The government rejected this observation and said it intends to counter the ICC decision by elevating it to the appeals chamber.

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Clavano said the government will prove to the UN rapporteur that efforts are enough to make sure justice is served for drug war victims.

“When he comes here, ipapakita natin lahat — kung saan na yung mga investigation natin, ano na yung status ng mga kaso — at we are confident na makikita niya na meron naman tayong ginagawa,” he said.

[Translation: When the special rapporteur comes here, we will show him everything – where our investigations are, the status of the cases – and we are confident he’ll see that we are doing something.]

Clavano said around 290 drug-war related cases are being resolved to date.

“We just want to express to the ICC to give us some time to show that we are doing a genuine investigation on the cases,” he added.

Echoing Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, Clavano also maintained that the ICC no longer has jurisdiction over the Philippines as the country has withdrawn from the Rome Statute effective March 2019.

However, the ICC earlier said it retains jurisdiction over the alleged crimes conducted while the country was a state party.