ICC judges told: No prosecution for almost 4K drug war deaths under Duterte admin

The Duterte administration did not prosecute the police officers allegedly responsible for 3,967 government-acknowledged drug war killings, a lawyer for the victims in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity case told the International Criminal Court on Friday.

Lawyer Gilbert Andres said that there was also no motu proprio investigation into the deaths during the police operations, which was mandated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Revised Operational Procedures issued in 2013.

“The defense asserted that, purportedly, Duterte’s administration is ‘intolerant of rotten police officers.’ This is not true,” Andres said in his closing remarks.

“Mr. Duterte’s administration has not criminally prosecuted the police officers responsible for the government-recognized deaths of at least 3,967 drug personalities,” he added.  

Andres cited the Duterte administration’s 2017 year-end report, which stated that 3,967 drug personalities died in anti-drug operations from July 2016 to November 2017.

He said the administration investigated at most 302 cases.

Andres said the Supreme Court (SC) also found that the 3,967 deaths of drug war personalities are “indicative of the state policy of extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration.” 

“Aside from the OSG’s submissions in the present cases, we take judicial notice of the Duterte administration’s 2017 year-end report, where deaths and cases related to illegal drugs and the internal cleansing conducted within the PNP are touted as accomplishments,” Andres said, quoting the High Court.

“The government’s inclusion of these deaths among its other accomplishments may lead to the inference that these are state-sponsored killings,” he added. 

Meanwhile, the year-end report also stated that there were 16,355 homicide cases under investigation from July 2016 to September 2017. This is  20,322 deaths under the drug war.

According to Andres, the SC sought to know why so many deaths occurred during the administration’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

READ: DAY IN COURT: ICC Hearings on the Charges vs. Duterte

The ICC Office of the Prosecutor has charged Duterte with 3 counts of crimes against humanity for alleged murder and attempted murder during his time as mayor and president.

Andres said the SC held that the police cannot claim a presumption of regularity for deaths that occurred in police operations.

“The SC held, and I quote, ‘the PNP cannot claim the presumption of regularity in official functions because deaths are not supposed to occur during any of their operations,” Andres said.

“The presumption of regularity in the performance of official duty must be seen in the context of an existing rule of law or statute, authorizing the performance of an act or duty,” he added.

He said he also disagreed with Kaufman’s argument that the incidents of murder during Duterte’s term as mayor were “hardly widespread.”

Andres said that there were “geographical spread” and “sustained attacks.”

“The attacks affect the population as a whole, not just a few individuals. The focus is on the quantitative magnitude. The attack is large in scope or effect. Systematic, on the other han,d refers to the organized nature of the attack,” he said.

The lawyer said that the attack against a specific group within the civilian population, individuals perceived as linked to drug crimes, was “widespread and systematic.”

“Contrary to the statistics shown by the defense, there is ample evidence about the high number of murders in this case,” he said.

He also stressed that Duterte’s drug war campaign was “a war against the poor.”

Andres also said that the victims also convey that the Philippine context is vital in knowing and understanding the impact of Duterte’s speeches.

This is because Duterte’s legal team previously argued that his speeches were “merely bluster.”

“Under the Philippine Constitution, the executive power shall be vested in the president of the Philippines. Whatever the president publicly states is policy,” Andres said.

“And in the Philippine cultural context, when there is strong respect for those in government positions, especially the president as head of state and as head of government, the words of the president is to be obeyed no matter what,” he added.

Andres stressed that some children were “murdered systematically” under the charges against Duterte, and they were not “mere collateral damage.”  

According to Andres, the victims submit that Duterte’s legal team has not blemished the prosecution’s case against the former official and that all charges should be confirmed.

“The victims want these charges to be confirmed because they want to be reintegrated to their communities. Because they are still in the shadow of fake news, of fear, and of threats from Mr. Duterte’s supporters,” he said. –NB, GMA Integrated News