PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he was studying following in Russia’s footsteps and similarly leaving the International Criminal Court for criticizing his war on drugs following the spate of summary killings of drug peddlers and users under his administration.
Before leaving to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, Duterte also threatened to leave the United Nations for similarly criticizing his bloody war on drugs.
“Russia withdrew from their membership. I might follow. Why? We, the small countries, are being beaten by these shameless people,” Duterte said.
He made his statement even as an opposition lawmaker on Thursday said the Philippines should first be given the opportunity to investigate the alleged summary killings before the International Criminal Court intervenes.
“Unless and until the Philippines has been given the opportunity to investigate and prosecute these issues on its own, I believe the ICC should prioritize improving its partnership with the Philippines by providing the necessary technical knowledge in addressing the issue,” Party-list Rep. Harry Roque of Kabayan said in a speech before the 15th Session of the Assembly of the States Parties of the ICC Wednesday in The Hague.
Duterte criticized the ICC for allegedly failing to prosecute the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by nations.
“The people are killing but they do nothing. It’s by the thousands bombing children, women, for five years now. Aleppo, Mosul,” Duterte said.
Russia said Wednesday it was formally withdrawing its signature from the founding statute of the International Criminal Court. It said the tribunal had failed to live up to the hopes of the international community when it ruled that Moscow’s annexation of Crimea was “one-sided.”
Two African nations, Gambia and South Africa, earlier accused The Hague-based tribunal of the “persecution and humiliation of people of color, especially Africans.”
Last October, the ICC said that it was “closely following” the war on drugs in the Philippines allegedly being attributed to President Rodrigo Duterte to see if the spate of deaths in the past three months may be considered “extrajudicial killings” that could warrant prosecution.
Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said extrajudicial killings could fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court if they were committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population pursuant to a State policy to commit such an attack.
Unlike Russia, however, the Philippines has been an ICC member state since November 2011 and has ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, in 2011.
The permanent international court can prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.
The United Nations, the European Union, the United States and international human rights groups have all raised concern over extra-judicial killings.
Duterte said he would have no second thoughts about joining a new order organized by China and Russia as he threatened to leave the United Nations.
Since July, Duterte has overseen a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left more than 3,300 people dead, both at the hands of police as well as in unexplained circumstances, according to official data.
In his speeches, Duterte has said he sees nothing wrong about killing drug lords and drug pushers because the gravity of the country’s drug problem calls for it.
