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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has resulted in the deaths of over 12,000 people allegedly using and dealing drugs, has announced that the country will withdraw from the establishing treaty of the International Criminal Court. His statement comes about a month after the ICC launched a preliminary investigation into those deaths. Human Rights Watch has called Duterte's term a "human rights calamity," as his administration "has rejected all domestic and international calls for accountability for these abuses, and instead has denied any government responsibility for the thousands of drug war deaths." Duterte, whose term began in June 2016, promised to kill every drug dealer and user in the Philippines in his presidential campaign. Police officials and vigilantes alike have contributed to the killings.
The ICC launches investigations when a member state is unwilling to carry out investigations and prosecute suspected perpetrators themselves. Duterte claims this is not the case: "The deaths [have occurred] in the process of legitimate police operation" who didn't intend to kill, but acted in self-defense," he said. The HRW's 2018 World Report disputes his claims. "Police have planted guns, spent ammunition, and drug packets on victims' bodies to implicate them in drug activities," it reads. "Masked gunmen taking part in killings appeared to be working closely with police, casting doubt on government claims that most killings have been committed by vigilantes or rival drug gangs. No one has been meaningfully investigated, let alone prosecuted, for any of the 'drug war' killings."
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a statement in Manila in Nov. 2017. Duterte will withdraw the Philippines from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to a statement released to reporters in Manila
NPR reported on the scope of Duterte's war on drugs last November: "Inside the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has maintained support for his bloody war on drugs, despite the thousands of lives lost and criticism by human rights groups. "Duterte has remained popular because most people in the country aren't directly affected by deadly drug war, which is mostly being waged in the inner cities. "Since taking office last year, Duterte continues to carry out his pledge to kill every drug dealer and user in the country. Human rights groups say the deadly extra-judicial war has left more than 13,000 people dead."... Duterte has a much-maligned history of cracking down on drugs. When he won the presidential election last year, Duterte touted his 20 years as mayor of Davao in Mindanao in his promise to rid the country of drugs and crime. But as The Guardian reports, Davao still has the highest murder rate in the country and the second highest number of rapes. "The scope of Duterte's vicious war in the Philippines echoes that first violent campaign in Davao. When he ordered the first death squad to target drug dealers and users in 1989, he allegedly told police officers: "Throw them in the ocean or the quarry. Make it clean. Make sure there are no traces of the bodies."
The ICC uses preliminary investigations to determine if there's "a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation pursuant to the criteria established by the Rome Statute," said ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. In Oct. 2016, Bensouda said she was "deeply concerned about these alleged killings and the fact that public statements of high officials of the Republic of the Philippines seem to condone such killings." "An international law cannot supplant, prevail or diminish a domestic law," reads Duterte's statement. "I therefore declare and forthwith give notice, as President of the Republic of the Philippines, that the Philippines is withdrawing its ratification of the Rome Statute effective immediately." Withdrawing from the Rome Statue doesn't let the Philippines off the hook to a more comprehensive ICC investigation or human rights abuse charges, however. "A State shall not be discharged, by reason of its withdrawal, from the obligations arising from the Rome Statute while it was a party to the Statute," reads the document's Article 127.
The same article also states that withdrawals from the Rome Statute shall take place one year or later after a state notifies the United Nations of its intent to withdraw. "There appears to be fraud in entering such agreement," counters Duterte's statement. The president dared the ICC to jail him last month, saying, "If you haul me into a rigmarole of trial and trial, no need. Go ahead and proceed in your investigation. Find me guilty, of course. You can do that." "Looks like they are really afraid. Why? They feel that this will proceed to an investigation," Jude Sabio, an ICC lawyer, told Reuters. The withdrawal "will have no binding legal effect," he said. There are no strict timelines on ICC preliminary investigations, which have taken years to establish whether crimes have taken place.
Duterte Pulls Philippines Out Of International Criminal Court
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte intends to pull his country out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), shortly after the judicial body launched a crimes against humanity investigation into his controversial war on drugs. In a lengthy statement released Wednesday, the Filipino strongman leader decried what he believed to be an "outrageous" attack on his character by United Nations (UN) officials. Duterte has been accused of facilitating extrajudicial killings and other rights abuses during a campaign to stamp out illegal drugs in the Asian country.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte walks past honor guards as he arrives at Manila international airport in Manila on May 24, 2017, after returning from a visit to Russia. Duterte threatened on May 24 to impose martial law in Mindanao to combat the rising threat of terrorism, after Islamist militants beheaded a policeman and took Catholic hostages while rampaging through a southern city.
Last month, the ICC said it was investigating allegations the Philippines president had committed crimes against humanity. Duterte initially welcomed the move, suggesting it would provide him with an opportunity to clear his name of any apparent wrongdoing. However, in a dramatic U-turn, he has since decided the judicial body has demonstrated a "brazen ignorance of the law." He also said the ICC was "useless" and "hypocritical."
Duterte should 'see a psychiatrist'
Police are thought to have killed more than 4,100 people since Duterte took office in May 2016 and rights groups allege approximately 8,000 others have been murdered during the country's war on drugs. The Philippines has consistently said its legal processes are functional and independent, while the country's police deny allegations of murder and cover-ups. Duterte's contentious bid to clamp down on illegal drugs has long been a source of international alarm, with several countries and UN officials condemning the campaign.
On Friday, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights said the maverick former mayor was in need of a psychiatric evaluation. Speaking at a news conference, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Duterte's attacks on human rights activists were "unacceptable" and should not continue "unanswered." According to the ICC's guidelines, a pledge to withdraw from its organization would only become effective one year after the initial notification. The Philippines is currently under the jurisdiction of the ICC as a result of it being a member, while withdrawing from the group does nothing to change its jurisdiction retroactively.
Philippines to withdraw from International Criminal Court amid crimes against humanity investigation
Trump should do the same!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/15/...ld/asia/philippines-duterte-news-website.html
Even tho, that's what the trumpanzees want.Trump should do the same!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/15/...ld/asia/philippines-duterte-news-website.html
No...
America is not some third world dictatorship!
The long-delayed law came four years after the government signed a peace deal with the separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which dropped its bid for full independence in return for the right to self-rule. The front had fought a fierce uprising since 1978 that left about 120,000 people dead and pushed pockets of the deep south of the Philippines into a cycle of extreme poverty and violence.
The new legislation, called the Bangsamoro Organic Law, was supposed to have been passed early this week, but infighting among allies of Mr. Duterte in Congress delayed its passage. The president’s spokesman, Harry Roque, said on Thursday that the presidential palace had now received a copy of the law. “After much confusion, the president has signed into law the Bangsamoro Organic Law,” Mr. Roque said in an interview.
A mosque in the southern Philippines. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front had fought a fierce uprising since 1978 that left about 120,000 dead and pushed pockets of the south into a cycle of extreme poverty and violence.
The legislation mandates the expansion of an autonomous region that would be led initially by a “transitional authority” composed mostly of former fighters before eventually being governed by its own parliament. The region is intended to supersede an earlier autonomous zone, composed of five provinces, that was considered to have benefited only a small number of Muslim families and that had been wracked by violence. The new area is expected to be larger and better funded.
Under the new plan, the government would retain police and military forces in the area, combatants would lay down their weapons in phases, and six of the guerrilla group’s camps would be converted to “productive civilian communities,” according to the leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim. Mr. Murad said that the rebel group had 30,000 to 40,000 fighters and that those combatants would willingly give up their weapons, a first step toward reducing the proliferation of unlicensed firearms in the region.
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