[ad_1]
The International Criminal Court has announced that it will allow its prosecutors to reopen investigations into crimes against humanity committed during former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody drug war.File photo courtesy of Francis R. Malasig/EPA-EFE
January 27 (United Press International) — ICC announces it will resume investigation into former Philippine president’s alleged crimes against humanity Rodrigo Dutertedrug war.
The Hague-based court temporarily suspend investigation November 2021, after Manila requested a postponement of its own review.
On Thursday, the International Criminal Court Prosecutor’s request granted Reopened the investigation, saying it was “dissatisfied that the relevant ongoing investigation in the Philippines needs to be postponed.”
“The Chamber concluded that the comprehensive assessment of the various domestic initiatives and proceedings did not constitute tangible, concrete and progressive steps in the investigation that adequately reflected the Court’s investigation,” the ICC said.
Duterte swept the Philippine presidency in 2016 with a violent, tough-on-crime message, vowing to end the country’s drug problem within six months and publicly urging police and even citizens to kill drug dealers.
Some 6,200 people have died in Duterte’s brutal crackdown on drugs, according to official government figures. However, rights groups say the number could be as high as 30,000, including widespread extrajudicial violence.
The Philippines said on Friday it would appeal the decision.
“While we have not yet received an official copy of the resolution, we intend to exhaust our legal remedies, especially by referring the matter to the ICC Appeals Chamber,” said Menardo Guevara, Manila’s top judicial official. (Menardo Guevarra) said, message said to the reporter.
Human Rights Watch praised the ICC’s decision to reopen the investigation, saying it was “the only sure way to achieve justice for the victims and their families of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s murderous ‘war on drugs’. “
“The ICC provides a pathway to fill the accountability vacuum,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in an email.
Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 after a preliminary investigation began, seeking to argue that the international body lacked jurisdiction over the country.
As his six-year term ends in June, the outgoing president Require The State Police continues his war on drugs.
Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said in August that the Philippines has “no intention” to rejoin the ICC.
[ad_2]
Source link