Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 27) — International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has maintained his call for the resumption of the drug war probe on the Philippines, opposing the government’s arguments in its request to hold off the investigation.
The Philippines earlier told the tribunal that it has no jurisdiction over the situation in the country, and that the alleged crimes lack gravity and are already being investigated by concerned local agencies.
But Khan, in his response dated Sept. 22, stressed that none of these comments have merit.
“For the reasons set forth, the prosecution respectfully reiterates its request that the chamber order the resumption of the investigation into the situation in the Philippines,” Khan wrote in the 21-page document.
Khan’s arguments
Khan argued that the Philippines’ challenges with regards to jurisdiction and gravity cannot be considered at this stage of the proceedings, citing the lack of provision in the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.
He added that the government has not submitted any concrete evidence or information that would contradict the chamber’s previous findings.
“It has not provided any concrete facts to call into question the chamber’s contrary findings that in ‘many cases’ police appear to have planned killings in advance, staged self-defense scenarios, planted evidence, and produced false reports, and that ‘the so-called “war on drugs” campaign affected certain segments of the population disproportionately,’” read his reply.
The prosecutor also noted that the Philippines “failed to substantiate” the local probes and prosecutions that would mirror the ICC’s proceedings.
“Nothing in the observations nor in the hundreds of pages of associated annexes substantiates that criminal proceedings actually have been or are being conducted in anything more than a small number of cases,” Khan said.
In Nov. 2021, the ICC, following a deferral request from the Philippines, suspended its investigation into the flagship drug war launched by former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. But Khan pushed to reopen the probe, saying the request was not justified.
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Government data showed over 6,000 have died in the anti-drug campaign — a figure contested by many groups that believe the toll is much higher.
