DAVAO CITY (MindaNews /17 March) – The Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) is urging the Marcos administration to “immediately rejoin the ICC” (International Criminal Court) and “restore the country’s commitment to accountability and human rights.”
The UPLM made the recommendation in a statement issued on March 17, exactly six years to the day the Philippines’ withdrawal as State Party to the Rome Statue, the ICC’s founding treaty, took effect.
The Philippine government, under then President Rodrigo Duterte, submitted its notice of withdrawal from the ICC on March 16, 2018, in response to the ICC Prosecutor’s announcement on February 8 of a preliminary examination into the Philippines’ War on Drugs, “citing possible crimes against humanity.” The withdrawal took effect on March 17, 2019.
The UPLM said the withdrawal from the ICC was “a deliberate act to shield perpetrators of grave human rights violations from accountability” and has left countless victims of extrajudicial killings and other atrocities “without recourse to justice within the domestic sphere.”
It said the arrest of Duterte and his subsequent detention in The Hague, the Netherlands, underscores the crucial role of the international court in holding accountable those responsible for the most serious crimes of international concern and validates “the long-standing clamor for justice” by the victims and their families, “who have been systematically denied redress within the Philippine justice system, especially during the Duterte administration.”
The UPLM urged Marcos to decide if it wants the country to align with global human rights standards or if it will “continue to shield perpetrators of mass killings from justice?”
Rejoining the ICC, the Mindanao-based lawyers said, “is a test of its commitment to human rights, the rule of law, and justice.”
It noted that in rejoining the ICC, the Philippines reaffirms its commitment to international justice and strengthens its ability to hold human rights violators accountable.
According to the UPLM, the ICC is not replacing domestic legal mechanisms but complementing it, serving as a “safeguard when national systems fail to act.”
It reiterated that Republic Act 9851 (An Act defining and penalizing crimes against international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes against humanity) passed in 2009 “clearly recognizes the jurisdiction of the ICC.”
UPLM called on the Marcos administration to immediately initiate the process of rejoining as State Party to the Rome Statute “to demonstrate its genuine commitment to justice and human rights;” fully cooperate with the ICC’s ongoing investigation into the situation in the Philippines, including providing access to relevant information and facilitating the appearance of witnesses; and to “acknowledge and address the systemic human rights violations committed during the Duterte administration, and continuing to the present.”
It also cited the need to include provide reparations to the victims and their families.
The ICC, it stressed, is a “vital mechanism to ensure that no one, especially those who commit crimes against humanity, is above the law.”
“The Marcos Jr. administration, whose human rights record is also condemnable, cannot wash away the blood of victims with political maneuvering. Justice demands action now,” it said. (MindaNews)
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