ICC cannot order Duterte’s arrest

RUSSIA’S on-going war against Ukraine, now way past its second year, is not only in violation of international law, but has also made its President, the ruthless Vladimir Putin, a global villain, except perhaps in the eyes of most Russians who apparently still support and believe in his leadership.

Putin’s international notoriety is best manifested by the warrant for his arrest recently issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The warrant for Putin’s arrest was issued on account of his controversial order to take away Ukrainian children inside Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and bring the minors to Russia, supposedly to be adopted by Russian families.

Putin claims the children were abandoned in a war zone and his measure is supposedly aimed at protecting them from possible harm in the course of hostilities.

Ukraine maintains otherwise, and the children were kidnapped to sow among the Ukrainian people.

Apparently annoyed by the intense international public opinion the alleged mass juvenile kidnapping is attracting attention.

Putin has recently announced he will return the children of Ukrainian couples who formally request him in writing for their repatriation.

Whether or not Putin will live up promise is something to be seen.

At any rate, Putin’s suspected mass kidnapping of Ukrainian children is so reprehensible asserts terror to his the ICC issued the warrant for Putin’s arrest.

According to the ICC, the warrant of arrest will be enforced against Putin once he steps into the territory of a country that is a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC.

That, of course, is easier said than done. Russia has responded with a terse statement consisting of two parts.

First, Russia is not a signatory to the Rome Statute and, accordingly, the ICC has no jurisdiction over Russia. Therefore, the ICC has no authority to effect Putin’s arrest.

Second, any country that enforces the warrant of arrest against Putin will trigger a retaliation from the Russian military, with a hint at the use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, particularly its long range ballistic missiles.

In short, Russia will not hesitate to go to war, a nuclear war even, in the event that its dictator is arrested outside of Russian territory.

Based on the foregoing, it is obvious the ICC has no jurisdiction over Russia and its dictator.

It has overstepped its bounds, and has unilaterally assumed it is the policeman of the world.

The ICC’s warrant for the arrest of Putin, therefore, is absolutely baseless, and only provokes a global war, likely nuclear in character, which the world cannot afford.

It will be recalled that during his term, President Rodrigo Duterte launched a relentless war against illegal drugs in the Philippines.

Duterte’s war on narcotics forced many government officials to surrender and undergo drug rehabilitation, including Quezon City councilor Hero Bautista.

His anti-narcotics campaign neutralized the local drug syndicates, and the Philippines was saved from becoming a narco-state.

Perhaps, Duterte could have completely eradicated the drug menace, had it not been for the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic that drained the government’s resources.

Anyway, as expected in any campaign against powerful drug syndicates, quite a number of casualties and injuries were registered.

Eventually, President Duterte’s political enemies from the much-despised Liberal Party and their allies who sympathize with the local communists initiated a complaint against him with the ICC.

They claimed Duterte’s war on drugs violated human rights.

The confederate they hired as their com

plaining witness eventually withdrew from the case, and admitted he had been hired for the sole purpose of discrediting Duterte.

Although the Philippines was a signatory to the Rome Statute, Manila has effectively withdrawn from the treaty. The Supreme Court dismissed a petition questioning the legality of the withdrawal.

In short, the ICC has no jurisdiction over Filipino nationals, Duterte included.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla himself affirms this view. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agrees with Remulla.

Recently, Duterte’s enemies, including detained ex-Senator Leila de Lima and some radical party-representatives in Congress, want the the ICC to issue a warrant for his arrest, in duplication of the warrant issued against Putin.

Obviously, they are delirious, or it’s just a case of wishful thinking on their part.

The ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, like Russia.

Therefore, the ICC has no authority issuing a warrant of arrest against anybody in the Philippines, Duterte included.

As Secretary Remulla repeatedly points out, to allow the ICC to operate in the Philippines is an affront to Philippine sovereignty.

The ICC has no authority issuing a warrant of arrest against anybody in the Philippines, Duterte included.