(CDN FILE PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
MANILA, Philippines — It is the Duterte administration’s fault that it found the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) report and findings on the bloody war on drugs as one-sided because it did not submit their own evidence, Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares said Friday.
“The ICC really made sure all evidence was available there before the report. […] It’s just the fact the President did not want to answer it. Now, he claims it’s one-sided but it is actually his fault because he did not submit any evidence,” Colmenares told ABS-CBN News Channel, responding to a query about the possibility that the government won’t cooperate with the ICC investigation.
Since the government did not send pieces of evidence, Colmenares said the ICC prosecutor used Philippine National Police (PNP) records to show how many died in the drug war as well as the circumstances of the killings.
“The ICC, in fact, also gathered evidence from the government side even if the government did not send it through official pronouncements and of course, the human rights organizations and by monitoring the media. So it’s not really the one-sided thing,” said Colmenares.
The report, which was released on Monday, indicated that there was a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity such as murder, torture, and the infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm were committed during the bloody war on drugs.
The ICC judges will then decide whether or not to pursue an open investigation into the situation in the Philippines in the first half of 2021.