Ex-ICC judge: Public, social media statements can be used as evidence in ICC drug war probe

Public statements of Philippine government officials, including those made on social media, are admissible evidence before the International Criminal Court (ICC), retired ICC judge Raul Pangalangan said Monday.

Pangalangan made the assertion in light of ICC Pre Trial Chamber’s decision last week to allow ICC prosecutors to probe the Duterte administration's drug war for possible crimes against humanity.

"Public statements -- including statements from social media, which is a step forward given that courts are highly traditional institutions -- they can be used as evidence to probe what facts would prove the elements of the crime," Pangalangan said in an ANC interview.

"In this case, crimes against humanity due to murder committed as a systemic attack against civilians pursuant to a state policy," he added.

"Statements can also be used as evidence to establish mode of liability to determine who are the direct and indirect perpetrators of a crime. Certainly, statements ate admissible evidence that can be used on different purposes."

Critics and human rights groups have blamed President Rodrigo Duterte's rhetoric fully supporting police actions for the high death toll of his war on drugs, with police claiming the slain drug suspects were those who fought it out with arresting officers.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has earlier said that Duterte would rather die than face ICC, and that ICC probe will be useless because the Philippines is not obligated to cooperate anymore after withdrawing membership from Rome Statute, which established ICC, in March 2019. 

Pangalangan, however, argued that such withdrawal will not keep ICC probers at bay or prevent them from pursuing a case since Article 127 of the Rome Statute provides continuing jurisdiction and cooperation from states when their citizens are brought before ICC.

Pangalangan said that witnesses can also be flown to The Hague and that ICC prosecutors are allowed to conduct interviews online based on certain circumstances.

"Witnesses are flown to The Hague to testify, because the court recognizes that criminal justice cannot move forward without evidence. Witnesses are indispensable to that process, whether it is a witness for the defense or the prosecution," Pangalangan said.

"There is also online mechanism where testimony is taken on video if it is safer for them, if they are not available otherwise, and other reasons as may be determined. These are permissible," he added.

Pangalangan also said that the Philippines cannot escape ICC jurisdiction just because the Rome Statute was not published in Official Gazette as earlier argued by the Palace.

"I must disagree because the Rome Statute is not a domestic law. It is an international treaty and our Constitution requires that a treaty must be ratified by the Senate via a two-thirds vote," he said.

"We cannot use one [constitutional] provision and use it for another [topic]," he added. --KBK, GMA News