Duterte will not cooperate with ICC probe on drug war: Roque
President Rodrigo Duterte will not cooperate with the possible conduct of the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation on the country's anti-illegal drug war, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said on Tuesday.
Roque issued his statement after ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked its pre-trial chamber to authorize the investigation against Duterte for the alleged crime against humanity in connection to the anti-illegal drug war of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
"The president will never cooperate until his term ends on June 30, 2022," Roque said as he described the process as ' erroneous and politically motivated' during the press conference in Camp Crame in Quezon City on Tuesday.
"I believe that the decision to move forward into a formal investigation stage is legally erroneous, politically motivated, it is legally erroneous because in the first place the ICC has no jurisdiction over the subject matter of crimes against humanity as alleged in her information against President Rodrigo Roa Duterte," he said.
The Prosecution submits that there is a reasonable basis to believe that the Crime Against Humanity of Murder was committed from at least 1 July 2016 to 16 March 2019 in the context of the Philippine government’s “war on drugs” (“WoD”) campaign,'' said Bensouda.
Information obtained by the Prosecution suggests that state actors, primarily members of the Philippine security forces, killed thousands of suspected drug users and other civilians during official law enforcement operations, '' she said.
''Markedly similar crimes were committed outside official police operations, reportedly by so-called “vigilantes”, although information suggests that some vigilantes were in fact police officers, while others were private citizens recruited, coordinated, and paid by police to kill civilians,'' she said.
''The total number of civilians killed in connection with the WoD between July 2016 and March 2019 appears to be between 12,000 and 30,000,'' she said.
Roque said the ICC has limited jurisdiction temporal, ratione temporal, because they said our war against drug is a crime against humanity.
''The ratione materiae, the ratione temporis is limited to June 30, 2016 until 17 March of 2019 when we withdrew from the ICC. Everything that happened before the president took office and implement the war against drugs and everything that happened after 17 March of 2019 is clearly beyond the ratione temporis jurisdiction of the ICC," Roque explained.
Roque also noted that "the case given for purposes of formal investigation is barred in the principle of complementarity" and that "the investigation is not pursuant or in aid of substantial justice."
"Because of complementarity. I am confident that the pre-trial chamber will reject the request for investigation,'' said Roque.
"Based on the principle of complementarity, the ICC will not exercises jurisdiction unless the members state is unable or unwilling to prosecute, when we say unable it means there is no state, no justice system, no police... we do not have such in the Philippine because in the first place we have two presidents who were jailed after their term ends," he explained.
Roque also noted that cooperating with the possible ICC probe is an insult to the Filipino people.
"It's an insult to all the Filipinos... to say that our legal institutions here in the Philippines are not working and unable to provide justice, it is an insult. We will be compared to other countries... to the countries without government and it is not right," he said.
"Take a look at those with cases in ICC, they are those that comes from jurisdiction where justice system is not working, how dare you say that Philippine legal system is not working, it is an emotional issue for all lawyers and for all Filipinos, we are not like that in the Republic of the Philippines," he added. Robina Asido/DMS
