ICC continues probe into gov't's drug war

DESPITE PHILIPPINE WITHDRAWAL

MANILA — The International Criminal Court said it will continue to assess the communications into President Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged crimes against humanity despite the Philippine government’s withdrawal of its ratification from the Rome Statute.

The ICC said this information available in order in an annual report on its to reach a reasonable basis to preliminary examination believe that the alleged crimes activities released December fall within the jurisdiction of 5—10 months after ICC the court. prosecutor Fatou Bensouda “The office has continued opened a preliminary to gather, receive and review examination into the information available from a situation in the Philippines. wide range of sources on the Examination is not the same crimes allegedly committed as an investigation. in the context of the ‘war on

The ICC said the Office drugs’ in the Philippines,” of the Prosecutor has been it said. conducting a thorough factual The ICC said that any and legal assessment of the alleged crimes occurring in the future in the context of the same situation could be added in the office’s analysis.

“The office has further closely followed relevant developments in the Philippines and will continue to do so,” it said.

A total of 52 communications on the situation in the Philippines have been sent to the ICC, it said. These include the communications filed by lawyer Jude Sabio backed by a supplemental communication by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo party-list) in 2017 and the families of alleged victims of extrajudicial killings last August.

These communications alleged that Duterte and other senior government officials promoted and encouraged the killings of suspected drug users and dealers.

The Philippine National Police has counted at least 22,000 deaths under inquiry since the president launched the war on drugs in 2016. Official government data showed that more than 4,900 “drug personalities” have been killed in anti-narcotics operations.

In the same annual report, the Hague-based court insisted that “it retains jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes that have occurred in the Philippines during the period when it was a state party to the statute.”