Duterte faces new ICC case for crimes against humanity

MANILA — The families of alleged victims of extrajudicial killings yesterday filed a complaint before the International Criminal Court, accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of committing crimes against humanity in the course of the government’s crackdown on illegal drugs and campaign against criminality.

The complainants, who include the kin of alleged EJK victims and church-based and sectoral group Rise Up, asserted that Duterte is guilty of crimes against humanity, specifically murder and other inhumane acts. The National Union of People’s Lawyer assisted in the filing of the complaint.

They called on the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to indict Duterte for crimes against humanity and award reparation for the victims and complainants.

In the 50-page complaint, the families claimed that the chief executive has ordered and incited the killings through his statements and official memoranda.

Human rights advocates claim there have been more than 12,000 individuals killed since Duterte launched the brutal war on drugs. But the government has downplayed the numbers, claiming a little over 4,000 deaths in recognized law enforcement operations.

Malacañang is confident that the complaint of the families of EJK victims and group Rise Up will not fly.

“My fearless prediction is that it will not prosper dahil sa concept ng complementarity. Hindi po dapat gumalaw ang ICC unless local courts are proven to be unable and unwilling to exercise jurisdiction on these cases,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, a former human rights lawyer, said in a press briefing yesterday.