Yearender: ICC rejects Philippines appeal to stop drug probe

MANILA, Philippines —  Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have given the go-signal for the resumption of investigation into possible crimes against humanity committed in connection with the Duterte administration’s deadly campaign against illegal drugs and the so-called Davao death squad.

In the Philippines, months after President Marcos declared that the government will not cooperate with ICC investigators, some of his allies in Congress are now calling for the country to rejoin the international body.

Last July, in a split decision, the ICC Appeals Chamber rejected the Philippine government’s appeal on an earlier ruling that allowed prosecutor Karim Khan to proceed with the preliminary investigation into the situation in the Philippines.

It paved the way for the continuation of the investigation, which will cover killings committed in the context of the war on drugs from July 1, 2016 to March 16, 2019, when the Philippines officially withdrew from the Rome Statute that established the ICC.

Also included were Davao death squad killings between Nov. 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016, when former president Rodrigo Duterte was either mayor or vice mayor of the city.

The decision, which was welcomed by drug war victims and their families, prompted Marcos to announce that the country will fully disengage from the international body.

But in a surprising turn of events, the House committees on human rights and justice on Nov. 29 approved the resolutions urging Marcos to cooperate with the ICC investigation and rejoin the body.

A similar resolution was also filed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros in the Senate.

Days earlier, Marcos said that proposals to rejoin the ICC were under study, although Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin later said: “In my view, as far as I know him, he does not mean that we are going back to the ICC very soon.”

Solicitor General Menardo Guevara also maintained that resolutions from Congress are only “non-binding expressions” of lawmakers’ sentiments.

This means that the decision to rejoin the ICC would still be up to Marcos.

At the ICC, the victims said there is still no prospect of genuine investigations and prosecutions in the Philippines,