Butuyan warns ICC against dismissing charges vs Duterte

One of the Filipino lawyers for the alleged victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war cautioned on Monday against dismissing the case against him for crimes against humanity.

Speaking at the confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court headquarters in The Hague, Atty. Joel Butuyan said that "there is absolutely no other recourse for the victims."

He cited the remarks of then-Justice Secretary and now Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla that it was "difficult to prove the case" in the Philippines since "those who need to speak are involved in the crime."

"This case symbolically represents the last boat that the victims can board to go on a journey in search of justice for their loved ones who were brutally killed upon the orders of Mr. Duterte," Butuyan told the judges of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I.

"If this chamber prevents the boat from sailing by not confirming the charges, the victims will forever be moored on an island where the nights are filled with the screams and cries of their massacred loved ones," he added. 

'Virus of impunity'

Government records showed that around 6,200 drug suspects were killed during the Duterte administration, while human rights organizations say that numbers reach up to 30,000 due to unreported related slays.

"The whole Philippines needs to know the real story during those bloody years. There has been no opportunity for the entire country to really find out the whole truth of what happened," Butuyan said. "Truth is the antidote to the virus of impunity."

Preventing the case from proceeding to trial, Butuyan said, would mean that the "virus of impunity will continue to spread and infect many more."

"Victims fear that Duterte clones will become an even bigger group that can elect another apostle of impunity as the Philippines' next leader," he said. 

Butuyan added that as soon as Duterte returns to the Philippines as a "conquering hero" for his supporters, "he will resume preaching his gospel of impunity."

"In fact, if Mr. Duterte could threaten to slap the judges of this Court, which he did while he was president, this Chamber should imagine the kind of terror-filled threats and the violent actions that can easily be used against the victims if the suspect walks free from this Court," he said.

Duterte skipped the confirmation hearings, as he insisted that he does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC over him.

"We communicate the very deep disappointment of the victims at the decision allowing Rodrigo Duterte not to be present in this stage of confirmation of charges," Butuyan said.

"The sight of Mr. Duterte being read and being confronted with the grave and horrible charges against him would have constituted a vital component of justice for the victims." —VBL, GMA Integrated News