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Canada calls on Philippines to cooperate on ICC drug war probe


Senior Canadian government officials on Wednesday called on the Philippine government to cooperate on the International Criminal Court’s investigation on the deadly war on drugs under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, saying Manila can not be “selective” on its international law obligations.

Although the Philippines withdrew in 2019 from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, the officials said the government is “still accountable for all actions” before that and that the international court “still ha[s] legal jurisdiction” over the drug killings. 

“If the Philippines believes in upholding the international law, including things like UNCLOS, for example, it means it should also abide by international law,” the senior officials told selected Filipino journalists.

The officials agreed to speak to the press on the issue on condition that their names will not be published. 

Philippine government officials have repeatedly said it will not allow ICC investigators to conduct probe on the drug killings launched by Duterte, which killed more than 6,000 people according to government figures. Human rights groups said the death toll could be higher.

A panel of judges at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands last week authorized the Office of the Prosecutor to resume its investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in the Philippines.

Malacañang did not immediately respond to GMA News Online's request for comment.

Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier called the case “totally unacceptable” and an “insult” to Philippine sovereignty.

'Selectivism'

The Canadian officials stressed that “accountability is central” and “essential to long-term justice.”

“Human rights is integral in everything that we do even in how we govern ourselves,” they said. “It is embedded in the very core principles for all of our foreign policy. All of our domestic policies as well.”

They pointed out that the Philippine government cannot be promoting rule of law and citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in its disputes with China in the South China Sea when it does not honor its other international treaty obligations.

“There’s that selectivism. None of us could do that,” they said. “We can’t have support for UNCLOS on the one hand and then not meet our obligations on the other.”

A court of last resort, the ICC, created in 1998, investigates atrocities against humanity in countries unable or unwilling to prosecute such crimes.

After the The Hague-based court launched a preliminary investigation on the drug war, the Duterte withdrew the country’s ratification of the Rome Statute.

Philippine officials have been saying that the government opposes extrajudicial killings and would prosecute law enforcers committing such crimes.

“The ICC is not saying that the Philippines does not have a justice system contrary to what some senators have said recently. What they are saying is that you are not using them,” they said.

“If you don’t want to cooperate with the ICC, launch your own investigations and do it seriously.” —KBK, GMA Integrated News

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