ICC prosecutor preserved proof in Duterte drug war —HRW exec

Retired International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda made necessary steps to preserve evidence that there are crimes against humanity in the Duterte administration's bloody drug war, an official of Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday.

After Bensouda requested the ICC to conduct a full-blown investigation into the drug war killings, Palace said they will "never cooperate" with any investigation into the anti-drug campaign, which killed 6,117 drug suspects.

For Param-Preet Singh,  associate Director of HRW's International Justice Program, Bensouda is aware of these challenges, and has taken necessary steps to preserve the proof in her case.

"It is a very real challenge but in the prosecutor's announcement that accompanied the actual filing, she said she had taken steps to preserve the evidence knowing this would be a challenge moving forward," Singh told reporters in an online discussion with HRW officials.

"The precise details of that remain confidential but  it is clear it is something that the prosecutor was thinking carefully and has  taken steps to address," she added.

To address this challenge, Singh further pointed out that international authorities may conduct adjustments in the case buildup such as bringing the drug war victims outside of the Philippines even as the government refuses to cooperate.

"The challenge is to build the case, establish the evidence and build credible cases from the outside through diaspora communities, perhaps bringing victims outside the country to provide evidence," she explained.

According to Bensouda's report, there is a reasonable basis to believe that murder has been committed in the Philippines between July 1, 2016 and March 16, 2019 in the context of the drug war.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque claimed that the Philippines will never cooperate with the drug war because it already pulled out from the Rome Statute, which established the international tribunal, in March 2019.

"Hinding-hindi tayo magko-cooperate dahil hindi na tayo miyembro ng ICC [We will not cooperate because we are no longer member of the ICC]," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a press briefing in Camp Crame.

However, Bensouda clarified that the ICC, despite the  withdrawal of the Philippines, still has jurisdiction over the crimes committed in the country.

"Although the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute of the ICC took effect on 17 March 2019, as the Court has previously found in the context of the Burundi situation, the Court retains jurisdiction over crimes that are alleged to have occurred on the territory of that State during the period when it was a State Party to the Rome Statute. Moreover, these crimes are not subject to any statute of limitation," she said.

ICC could decide in three months

Citing best practices of ICC, Singh said it would take three months for tribunal judges to decide on Bensouda's request, provided that Bensouda complied with the laws of Rome Statute.

"They are just basically double checking  that her (Bensouda) request is in line  with Article 15 in the Rome Statute for the most part, the threshold is low, so provided that she dotted her i's and crossed her t's, all things being equal, we hope that judges will open in the investigation," the HRW official said.

Singh pointed out that if the full blown probe pushes through, Bensouda's successor Karim Khan will have to take over.

Nevertheless, she said the investigation will be a "tedious and painstaking process" because of gathering evidence to prove the elements of crimes committed.—LDF, GMA News