NGO wants more drug war victims to testify before ICC

Supporters and family members of victims of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war raise placards after filing complaints before the National Bureau of Investigation on Friday. —Photo by Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — A nongovernment organization (NGO) has urged all other victims of the Duterte drug war to come forward and provide testimony that may be included in the murder as a crime against humanity case pending against the former president before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Anyone else affected by the killings, illegal arrests and detention, torture, rape and other crimes related to the ‘war on drugs’ may get in touch with us for assistance in holding Duterte liable,” the Duterte Panagutin Campaign Network said on Sunday on its official Facebook page.

It said that any information, which should be sent to duterte.victims@proton.me, would be treated as confidential and would not be released to the public or to anyone else without their permission.

READ: ICC prosecutors submit 7th batch of evidence vs Rodrigo Duterte

The NGO said there was still a chance the testimony to be given would be used in the ICC case against Duterte if the witness is a relative or close friend of a drug war victim, or was personally affected by the killings. Another factor would be if the alleged crime being reported happened from Nov. 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, in the Philippines—from the time Duterte served as Davao City mayor until the first half of his presidency.

For victims affected by arrests, torture and other abuses, the NGO said these can be included as part of filing charges in the local setting.

Kristina Conti, one of the lawyers serving as a cocounsel for the drug war victims who had filed the ICC case against Duterte, clarified to the Inquirer that the “primary objective here is for the victims who are not covered by the scope of the ICC case.”

“So all the victims of Duterte; it’s important to point out that the ICC case covers only killings,” she added.

Conti said that they also wanted to study the “full extent of the victimization” under the previous administration.

According to her, even those who were victimized after March 2019, when the Philippines officially withdrew as a member of the Rome Statute which created the ICC, can also get in touch with them.

“If they can’t remember or if they have only a slight memory of it, that’s alright, they can still report it, we will still document it,” Conti said.

“If the victim chooses to do so, they can apply with the ICC. It may be rejected [by the court], but for us, what’s more important for us is the victims’ participation,” she stressed.

For those with cases that happened outside the time frame being investigated by the ICC (between Nov. 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019), Conti said they would still provide assistance by filing cases here in the Philippines against the law enforcers concerned.

“The volunteer lawyers of Duterte Panagutin Campaign Network will study if there are possible cases that could still be filed against Duterte or the higher-ups [in the police] or against lower-ranking policemen,” she added. /cb