Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is afraid.
That’s the signal he sent last week by announcing that the Philippines will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) “effective immediately.” Duterte sought to justify the withdrawal by suggesting that the ICC’s move last month to launch a preliminary examination into killings linked to the Philippine government’s “war on drugs” had violated the principles of “due process and the presumption of innocence.”
But behind Duterte’s bluster about being “appalled” by the ICC’s concern about an anti-drug campaign that has killed thousands of people, including dozens of children, is his palpable fear that he and senior government officials will inevitably face justice for their role in those deaths.
Duterte has good reason to be afraid of being implicated in possible crimes against humanity for inciting and instigating “drug war” killings. His outspoken vow to embark on a nationwide killing campaign against drug dealers and drug users was the foundation of a presidential electoral platform that swept him into office. At his inauguration on June 30, 2016, he told the Philippine public, “If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful.” That could constitute incitement to commit murder.
Duterte has repeatedly called for the Philippine National Police to target suspected drug users and dealers with extrajudicial violence, which could be considered instigating law enforcement to commit murder. In August 2016 he warned suspected drug dealers: “My order is shoot to kill you. I don’t care about human rights, you better believe me.” In April 2017, Duterte welcomed a returning group of overseas Filipino workers by telling them, “If you lose your job, I’ll give you one. Kill all the drug addicts.”
Duterte’s consistent messaging of targeting suspected drug dealers and users has not fallen on deaf ears. Since taking office, his anti-drug campaign has resulted in more than 12,000 deaths. And the killings continue. Duterte and some of his key ministers have praised the killings as proof of the “success” of the campaign and urged police to “seize the momentum.”
Research by Human Rights Watch and others has exposed a damning pattern of unlawful police conduct designed to paint a veneer of legality over “drug war” summary executions
However, research by Human Rights Watch and others has exposed a damning pattern of unlawful police conduct designed to paint a veneer of legality over “drug war” summary executions. In response, Duterte and Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa have in effect institutionalized impunity for police involvement in summary killings. Dela Rosa has dismissed calls for independent investigations into police drug war killings as “legal harassment” and said that the demand “dampens the morale” of police officers. In August, Duterte vowed to “pardon and promote” any police personnel implicated in unlawful killings.
Duterte has also sought to systematically eliminate meaningful opposition to the drug war carnage. In August, Duterte encouraged police attacks against human rights groups and advocates, instructing police to shoot them “if they are obstructing justice.” Duterte has publicly condemned the official Commission on Human Rights, even threatening to abolish the constitutionally mandated body. He also repeatedly subjected the UN’s expert on extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, to profanity-laced ridicule for her repeated efforts to secure an official visit to the Philippines.
Senator Leila de Lima, former chair of the human rights commission and secretary of justice, has been jailed since February 2017 on politically motivated drug charges as an apparent reprisal for her outspoken opposition to the drug war carnage. As international pressure for accountability for those deaths has risen in recent months, the Duterte government has adopted a tactic of denial and distraction to impugn the integrity of drug war critics.
Duterte is apparently hoping that announcing the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC will end any chance of being tried in The Hague. He should think again. Even if the Philippine government formally notifies the United Nations secretary-general of its withdrawal from the ICC – which Duterte’s statement did not do – withdrawal will only officially go into effect one year later. Even then, the court can still prosecute any international crimes committed while the Philippines was still an ICC member.
Duterte’s craven efforts to dodge ICC scrutiny should only heighten the urgency for a separate, United Nations-led probe into his drug war calamity. At the current session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Iceland’s foreign minister, reminded the council of its responsibility to “to try and ensure the Philippines meets its human rights obligations.” A UN inquiry would add to the international pressure on the Duterte government to stop the killings and to cooperate with efforts to bring those responsible to justice, including before the ICC.
Duterte won the 2016 presidential election in the Philippines with the slogan “Change is coming.” As he faces the increasing likelihood of an international investigation into the “drug war,” Duterte clearly now dreads the likelihood that justice is coming.
Phelim Kine is the deputy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch
Birador Elmer sorry. Majority of the Filipinos we mean. In a democracy, the will of the majority prevails. So, sit back and wait for a yellow president to be elected, I’m afraid you have to wait a hundred years for that to ever happen again.
Well here’s a thing, nice article except that it’s loaded with stuff that I would like to wipe my ass with…
You don’t even speak for the Filipinos and you’re mouthing off as if you’re qualified… Just don’t and I might suggest you write stuff about the Middle East, now there’s something your bosses haven’t solved since 2011…
As a Filipino, I really hope so that justice will come to the devil duterte.
I am a Filipino and I hate the devil duterte. Do not say "we Filipinos" say "we fanatics of evil duterte" or "we non-thinking davaoeños"?
Claude David Valero Ambion North Korea has been a regional threat for years yet you don’t see Uncle Sam knocking on their door now do we?
Say what you will about the US intelligence report… They can’t make a move now that China and Russia supports Duterte.. Two permanent members of the UN Security Council againts one…
Do the math!
The West has long weaponised human rights. NGOs like HRW and Amnesty International should be taken with a pinch of salt. The ICC is a toothless tiger and will only go after small third world countries that don’t toe the line. Have they ever tried to bring Blair & Bush to justice for the Iraqi invasion and deaths? Hillary for pushing Libya into chaos? Obama for the drone assassinations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other "shithole" countries? What about the people, predominantly blacks, who are routinely gunned down by American police? The two atomic bombs dropped on civilian cities are still unaccounted for, by the way.
Duterte is saving children and innocent victims of from these animals that the excuse they give is they are under the influence of drugs. Back off !!
Yeah.It’s not fake news. US released the report because Duterte continues to slam the US in public, cursing Obama "son or a whore" and shifting foreign policy towards China and Russia. Duterte becomes a threat of US interest in the Asia Pacific.
Claude David Valero Ambion not that so because in ASEAN region, 2 (Cambodia and the Philippines) out of 10+1( timor leste) ratified the rome statute. It’s a non issue for them????????????
Mecker Judulang Mr. Duterte is not afraid of axe because he brings gun.???????? ????
I live in the Philippines, and I watch and read news daily. I never heard dozens of children died because of war on drugs. ????????. How many dozens? 2?3?4?5?.. CHECK YOUR FACTS!????????
Do not ever try to challenge the Filipinos that love and supporting our president. We can kill and be killed to protect our president.
We Filipinos loves our President. So dont ever try to come to Philippines to put our president into shame. We will bring millions of people to the street of Manila to stop and execute every member of ICC step in to our conutry.
Claude David Valero Ambion , you probably mean a threat to the west.????
Mecker Judulang , with the west getting black eyes left and right, we can already assume that there are people already working to take him out. The bounty hunters are the least of them. ????
Worldwide Threat Assessment – Office of the Director of National Intelligence
PDF
/www.dni.gov › files › Testimonies
Does the term regional threat ring a bell?
Mecker Judulang Tell that to the Sudanese president who has a warrant from the ICC but still walks free without a care in the world for the past 7 years… Bounty hunters?.. Your living in a fantasy world of black and white my friend, wake up!…
Bullsh*t. Once he is indicted by the court (and he will be), any bounty hunter with an axe to grind can hunt him down, dead or alive. I think that’s what he’s afraid of. It will be open season on his head.
Which countries will enforce the ruling? The EU? UK? There is not much the European ICC tribunal could do. The Europeans are just using it to attack governments and leasers they don’t like. With the Philippine withdrawal, the ICCs credibility and prestige was badly damaged and we can expect more countries to withdraw. BTW, Duterte already said tgat the withdrawal is not for himself for he can save himself. It is for the law enforcement officials and agencies tasked with the drug problem. They should not worry about any court outside of the Philippines to run after them when they commit mistakes in the performance of their duties. This ICC should not have been ratified in the first place. It impugns on a country’s sovereignty.