ICC to reopen investigation into Duterte’s drug war

The International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, has said it will resume its investigation into possible “crimes against humanity” in the Philippines over former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

The ICC had planned to start its investigation in February 2018 but suspended its work in November 2021 after the Philippine government said it was undertaking its own review and that the ICC didn’t have jurisdiction.

Prosecutor Karim Khan asked judges for permission in June 2022 to reactivate his inquiry into alleged crimes against humanity between Nov. 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, which were allegedly committed as part of Duterte’s drug war.

The ICC pre trial-chamber said it was “not satisfied” with the information provided by the government that could have warranted a deferment of its order.

“The various domestic initiatives and proceedings, assessed collectively, do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps in a way that would sufficiently mirror the court’s investigation,” the judges said.

Duterte, a former mayor of the southern city of Davao who ran for office on a promise of fighting crime and declared a deadly  “war on drugs”. 

He openly threatened drug suspects with death and ordered police to shoot suspects who dangerously resisted arrest, but he has denied condoning extrajudicial killings.

A United Nations report in 2021 found that 8,663 people had been killed in anti-drug operations but the Human Rights Commission of the Philippines and local human rights groups say the toll could be as much as three times higher.