Duterte faces new ‘crimes against humanity’ claim
MANILA, Philippines — Relatives of several people slain in the Philippine president’s anti-drug campaign asked the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to prosecute him for alleged crimes against humanity, in the second such request for a ruling on thousands of deaths that have occurred during the crackdown.
Lawyer Edre Olalia said a 50page complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte was sent to an ICC prosecutor by email. Olalia said it accuses Duterte of ordering, inciting or tolerating the drug killings from the start of his presidency in mid-2016 to this month. The Duterte administration said it expects the effort to fail.
A similar complaint against Duterte was filed by a Filipino lawyer before the ICC last year and is currently being examined by a prosecutor. It focuses on killings during an earlier crackdown by Duterte when he was mayor of southern Davao city.
In their complaint Tuesday, the parents, sisters and wife of eight slain drug suspects seek an indictment of Duterte and reparations for the deaths that occurred during police anti-drug raids. The complainants also include a nongovernment group that helps families of victims, and are represented by a legal group, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, led by Olalia.
“It is our hope that with the court taking jurisdiction of herein complaint, it may force President Duterte to re-examine, if not abandon, his distorted notion of mass murder to solve the country’s drug and crime problem,” the complainants said.
The international court, which is based in The Hague, receives many such communications about alleged crimes from around the world and prosecutors are not obliged to open preliminary investigations based on them.
The first complaint against Duterte, which was filed by Filipino lawyer Jude Sabio, is currently being examined by ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Prior to the filing of Sabio’s information, Bensouda said she was “deeply concerned” by reports of killings in the Philippines, adding that statements by “high officials” in the country “seem to condone such killings.”
Duterte, a 73-year-old former government prosecutor, denies condoning extrajudicial killings but has openly threatened drug dealers with death.
“Remorselessly and incorrigibly, President Duterte’s statements are a command to kill,” the complainants said, citing his offer of bounties for drug suspects and law enforcers who profit from drug crimes.