Don’t take int’l criminal court lightly, President advised

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is not a body to be ignored, warned an opposition lawmaker and a legal luminary separately interviewed by the Inquirer on Sunday for their thoughts on the warning issued by The Hague-based tribunal.

Opposition lawmaker Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat said ICC intervention in connection with the extrajudicial killings “would be the most serious international condemnation [of the Philippines] for alleged crimes against humanity.”

“But I doubt it will stop the President from making strong pronouncements in the campaign against drugs. [It would provide] more fodder for his tirades against the international community,” Baguilat said.

For his part, Jose Manuel Diokno, dean of the De La Salle University (DLSU) College of Law, said President Duterte “should take the ICC seriously because he can be arrested and convicted of crimes against humanity if legal proceedings are lodged before the ICC.”

Diokno also chairs the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).

 Rare statement

The ICC rarely issues statements. But on Friday, its chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said her office would begin to closely follow developments in the Philippines, expressing concern over reported extrajudicial killings or summary executions in President Duterte’s brutal war on illegal drugs.

Diokno noted that last March, the ICC found Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, former Congo vice president, guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes that included mass murder and rape.

“The conviction was based on command responsibility, that he knew his men were committing crimes and failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power to prevent or repress those crimes,” Diokno said.

In June, the ICC sentenced Gombo to 18 years in prison.

In the Philippines, more than 3,700 people have been killed by police and vigilantes since Mr. Duterte launched his campaign against illegal drugs upon taking office on June 30.

The President responded by telling the international community not to interfere in his campaign. He threatened to pull the Philippines out of the UN, and has called President Barack Obama a “son of a bitch.” Mr. Duterte recently said the American President “can go to hell.”

There have been cases, however, where family members have challenged police accounts of resistance.