President Rodrigo Duterte is facing a criminal charge before the International Criminal Court for alleged “mass murder” in the Philippines.
In a 78-page complaint, lawyer Jude Sabio cited the murder of at least 1,400 people by the alleged Davao Death Squad (DDS) when Duterte was Davao City mayor.
Sabio also mentioned the killing of at least 7,000 people in the Philippines under Duterte’s presidency.
It is important to note there have been a lot of positive outcomes when it comes to Duterte’s fulfilling his campaign promises, who was previously dubbed as The Punisher, and is described as an enigma, an action man, committed to pursuit with his drastic measures against corruption, criminality and eradicating the drugs menace.
A report prepared by psychologist Dr. Natividad Dayan concluded that Duterte is suffering from anti-social narcissistic personality disorder, a condition characterized by “gross indifference, insensitivity and self-centeredness,” “grandiose sense of self-entitlement and manipulative behaviors” and “pervasive tendency to demean, humiliate others and violate their rights and feelings.”
However, some analysts agree that it takes a person like Duterte to be able to effect change, as he is so focused, goal-oriented, and headstrong, he will not let anything or anyone stand in his way.
His empathy, compassion, and bias for the poor and the oppressed, is legendary.
What will happen to the criminal charge filed before the ICC?
The International Criminal Court is an inter-governmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands. It has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems, and it may, therefore, only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer investigations to the Court.
The ICC began functioning on 1 July 2002, the date that the Rome Statute entered into force. The Rome Statute is a multilateral treaty which serves as the ICC’s foundational and governing document.
States which become party to the Rome Statute, for example by ratifying it, become member states of the ICC. Currently, 124 states are party to the treaty.
The first step is for the Office of the Prosecutor to open official investigations on the validity of the complaint. The first hurdle is to deal with the issue: “Are these crimes which the national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute? Are these extra-judicial killings state-sponsored? Will it fall on any of the crimes listed as ”crimes against humanity”?
It is up to the complainant to prove their allegations on the acts attributed to or committed by Duterte himself.
This is the reason why legal experts are divided on the charges that EJKs are “crimes against humanity”.
While Duterte has continued popular support among his constituents, the wheels of ICC have started grinding.
Love him or hate him, Duterte is our president.
The whole nation is waiting to exhale.
To recapitulate, on 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries abstaining. The seven countries that voted against the treaty were China, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen.
The ICC is designed to prosecute and bring to justice those responsible for the worst crimes – genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The court has global jurisdiction. It is a court of last resort, intervening only when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute. States that join the treaty may want to make sure that they themselves are able to prosecute all the crimes that it covers; otherwise, the court may intervene. Some governments have introduced legislation to make changes in their own judicial systems.
_________________________________
Author’s email: whelmayap@yahoo.com
