Former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chair Loretta Ann P. Rosales said “there is no room for politics” in the complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte in the International Criminal Court.
In a statement, Rosales said the “filing of a complaint is just the beginning of a rigorous process of judicial determination.”
Rosales, chair emeritus of Akbayan, said “this context will require significant investment of the ICC’s time and resources in order to gather the voluminous evidence necessary to bring the charges forward, hold a trial, convict and punish the concerned persons..”
“There is no room for politics in that process. All sides should therefore refrain from framing this process to suit vested political ends. Not for one moment should anyone use the ICC, and for this particular case, as tool for propaganda and deal-making,” Rosales said.
A complaint was lodged against Duterte in the ICC over the alleged extra-judicial killings (EJKs) that killed more than 8,000 individuals all over the country.
Duterte including 11 other government officials had been the subject of a complaint at the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity.
Rosales said “everyone must study the matter closely.”
She said “the case raises transcendental legal and policy issues, and it is our duty as stakeholders to examine these issues with close and critical scrutiny.”
“I personally consider this as an important step towards strengthening the rule of law: one, in terms of holding the individuals concerned accountable for their actions, words and inactions; and two, in terms of subjecting the current approach to drug abuse – Mr. Duterte’s so-called “War on Drugs” – to a thorough and objective judicial review.”
The Philippines has ratified the Rome Statute in 2011 through the advocacy of civil society organizations led by the Philippine Coalition for the International Court (PCICC), the Presidential Human Rights Committee and the Commission on Human Rights. –Ricky San Pedro