Philippines urges ICC not to allow self for political agenda, destabilize governments

December 8, 2017

The International Criminal Court should not allow itself to be used by some quarters to be a venue for their political agenda to destabilize governments, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.

Roque made the call when he delivered a speech during the general debate of the 16th Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC at the United Nations  headquarters, New York on Thursday.

"Mr. President, we urge the Court to resist attempts by some sectors to treat the Court as a venue to pursue political agenda to destabilize governments and undermine legitimate national authorities," he said.

"It is indeed actions like these that politicize and dilute the Court's mandate which ultimately undermine national efforts to punish and prosecute crimes covered by the Statute and derail current efforts to achieve universality of the Rome Statute," Roque added.

Last May, Filipino lawyer Jude Josue Sabio filed a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte and other government officials for the alleged crimes against humanity for thousands of people who died allegedly due to the administration's war against illegal drugs.

Opposition lawmakers, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano filed a supplemental complaint a month later. They accused that the state was unwilling to investigate the extrajudicial killings in the country.

Roque reminded the ICC that it is a court of last resort and State Parties to the Rome Statute envisioned it with a "complementary, not primary, jurisdiction for the prosecution of the persons most responsible for the most serious crimes of international concern."

In the case of the Philippines, he stressed that there is no question that the country has long since had laws and a functioning criminal justice system able to investigate and prosecute such crimes in its territory.

He cited Republic Act No. 9851, known as "Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity". The law punishes criminal conduct covered by the Rome Statute preceded even the country's ratification of the Statute, he said.

"The Philippines is therefore prepared to act, as we have always so acted, to bring to bear our national criminal justice system upon those who violate our laws and pose a threat to our national security," Roque said.

He said the Duterte administration trusts that the ICC's exercise of its mandate will respect national processes geared towards exacting criminal accountability for conduct committed within the Philippine territory.

Roque warned that a violation of the very basis of the Philippine consent, which is complementarity, "will constrain us to reassess our continuing commitment to the Court and the Rome Statute." Celerina Monte/DMS