Human rights organizations have appealed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to delay the proceedings in the case of former President Rodrigo Duterte, in response to the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I decision to postpone the confirmation hearing, initially scheduled for September 23.
The majority of the chamber considered that the hearing’s limited postponement was warranted after Duterte’s legal counsel requested an indefinite adjournment of the proceedings, as the former president was allegedly not fit to stand trial.
However, the Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC) issued a statement highlighting the importance of “expeditiousness of proceedings,” expressing its dismay toward the ICC postponing Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing.
“The AHRC encourages the ICC to resolve the pending issues immediately, set the new date promptly, and ensure that the process is equal and fair—for the victims,” the AHRC said in Filipino.
Meanwhile, Rise Up for Life and for Rights, an organization of families of drug-related killings and their supporters, rejected the narrative of Duterte’s defense team.
“Mr. Duterte is fit to stand trial, just as he is able to utilize resources in his efforts to delay and block our fight for justice… The request for the adjournment of the proceedings is unconscionable and is just one of his many attempts to evade accountability,” Rise Up for Life and for Rights said in a statement.
According to the group, the families of drug war victims have been looking forward to the confirmation of charges hearing. They lamented that Duterte’s rights are upheld and respected despite their loved ones being denied the opportunity to face trial and being brutally killed.
The organization thanked Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera for her dissenting opinion, where she had expressed that the request from Duterte’s defense should have been rejected and the pre-trial proceedings continued, including the confirmation of charges hearing.
It called on the ICC to resume the proceedings as soon as possible, saying it will respect the court’s process as one that “should not allow for the Defense to delay very long.”
“We cling to the slightest hope offered by the ICC because the Philippine government and our justice system repeatedly failed us. It pains and angers us to see the dirty tactics employed by the Dutertes in the international arena,” Rise Up for Life and for Rights concluded.
