“DRUG WAR” KILLINGS
Pangalangan, who served in the ICC from 2015 to 2021, said international criminal law has evolved “to bring the highest leaders of governments to be accountable for their actions”.
“There is no such thing as head of state immunity, and there is no immunity that attaches to the acts committed by, in this case, President Duterte, even at the time when he was president,” he told CNA’s Asia First on Thursday.
Duterte, who arrived at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on a chartered plane on Wednesday, will be brought before an ICC judge in the coming days for an initial appearance, during which the allegations will be detailed in court.
Pangalangan, who is also professor of law at the University of the Philippines, said the next stage will be the confirmation of charges, where Duterte’s lawyers are expected to make their objections, including whether the ICC has the jurisdiction to investigate the alleged crimes.
Duterte, in a video posted to his Facebook page on Wednesday, said he was prepared to accept responsibility.
His war on drugs campaign defined his presidency from 2016 to 2022.
During his six years in office, about 6,200 drug suspects were killed, according to the Philippine police. But activist groups believe the real toll was much greater.
The violence led the ICC prosecutor’s office to open a preliminary investigation into deaths in the Philippines in 2018.
Shortly after, Duterte said the country would withdraw from the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute. The exit took effect in March 2019.
But under the Rome Statute, even if a state withdraws as a member, the ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes committed during the membership period.
Source: CNA
