(MANILA) The Philippine government on Friday announced plans to appeal Thursday’s decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow its prosecutor to reopen an investigation into the ex-president’s government’s brutal drug war Rodrigo Duterte.
The judges of the ICC, based in The Hague (Netherlands), had authorized in September 2021 an investigation into this anti-drug campaign from 2016 to 2022, marked by thousands of people killed by the police, which could constitute, according to the judges, crimes against humanity.
At least 6,181 people have been killed in more than 200,000 counter-narcotics operations, according to the latest official data released by the Philippines. ICC prosecutors estimate the death toll at between 12,000 and 30,000.
The investigation had been suspended in November 2021 following a request from Manila, saying that the Philippine government was itself investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed during the war on drugs.
In June 2022, the ICC prosecutor requested the reopening of the investigation, a few days before Rodrigo Duterte’s departure from power.
“After careful analysis of the material provided by the Philippines, the Chamber is not satisfied that the Philippines is conducting relevant investigations that would warrant a postponement of the court’s investigations,” the ICC said in a statement Thursday.
“The ICC’s investigation in the Philippines is the only credible avenue to achieve justice for the victims and their families of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s murderous ‘war on drugs’,” said Phil Robertson, Director deputy of Human Rights Watch Asia.
Attorney General Menardo Guevarra and Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla for their part considered that it is local justice, and not the ICC, which must have jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed during the war on drugs.
“They insult us,” Crispin Remulla was indignant with journalists. “I will not tolerate any of this nonsense which tends to question our sovereignty”.
Philippine police chief of operations Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon vowed the drug crackdown would continue, calling Duterte’s policies “inspirational.”
Rodrigo Duterte was elected president in 2016 after an outrageous security campaign, promising to eradicate drug trafficking in the Philippines by killing thousands of offenders.
Current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., elected in a landslide victory in May through an alliance with Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter Sara, has promised to continue the war on drugs, but with a focus on prevention and rehabilitation.
He has so far ruled out reversing the decision to leave the ICC.