Callamard to new ICC prosecutor Khan: You have Amnesty International’s support

Amnesty International secretary general Agnes Callamard said the organization will render support to new International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, underscoring the official's role in international justice.

Khan, who was sworn in on Wednesday, will take over probes opened in hotspots like the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Philippines

"In the pursuit of your mandate, you must be brave and fiercely independent. We are under no illusion that you will come under immense pressure from powerful states as you investigate situations where their nationals and interests are affected," Callamard, one of the critics of President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, wrote in her open letter.

"If, or when you receive pushback or threats following the proper exercise of your independent mandate, Amnesty International and our 10 million members will defend you to our utmost ability. As you pursue investigations in the most challenging situations, you will have our support—we are counting on you," she added.

When she was the United Nations' special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Callamard earned Duterte's ire when she criticized his bloody war on drugs, saying that this approach would only worsen the situation instead of solving it.

ICC action 'last resort'

In her letter to Khan, Callamard pointed out that the ICC's interventions are considered as a "last resort" in nations, including Philippines, that block accountability in international crimes.

"In our view, the situations in The Philippines, Palestine, and Afghanistan represent the raison d’être for the International Criminal Court. The ICC investigations act as a ‘last resort’ in situations that have remained in the blind spot of international justice, especially because powerful states have blocked and hindered accountability for decades," she said.

"As such, the importance of your Office’s work cannot be overstated. Indeed, investigations in these situations represent momentous breakthroughs for justice, after years, if not decades, of non-accountability," she added.

She added that ICC's action is still in demand even as there are some ongoing failures to pursue accountability in crimes against humanity under international law.

"Ongoing failures to pursue accountability for crimes under international law and other serious violations of human rights are among the root causes of a crisis of confidence in the human rights movement; the international rule of law; and international institutions including the ICC," Callamard said.

"Despite this, demands for the ICC’s intervention continue to rise, as Rome Statute crimes continue to be committed with impunity," she further said.

Before leaving the ICC, Bensouda asked the international court to open a full investigation into the drug war killings in the country. The tribunal has four months to decide on the prosecutor's request.

In her own probe, Bensouda found reasonable basis to believe that the "crime against humanity of murder has been committed on the territory of the Philippines between 1 July 2016 and 16 March 2019."

Malacañang, however, insisted that the ICC probe is legally wrong because in 2019, the Philippines exited the Rome Statute, which established the international court. — BM, GMA News