The government acted on a “red diffusion” from Interpol in arresting former President Rodrigo Duterte on the back of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity for murder.
During a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations inquiry Thursday into the arrest and transfer of Duterte to The Hague on March 11, Senator Imee Marcos also questioned the ICC’s authority over a country that is no longer a member.
“This is bigger than Duterte. This is about our dignity as Filipinos. They say the law should prevail. Whose law? Ours or theirs? Since when did the Philippines become a province of The Hague? If they can do this to a former president, who’s next? What stops them from doing it again?” Marcos said.
“There was no Red Notice and what was issued was merely a diffusion. There’s a big difference,” she added.
Philippine Center on Transnational Crime executive director Anthony Alcantara said a “red diffusion” was “equivalent to a red notice.”
According to Interpol, a “diffusion” is limited to one or more countries while a “notice” is worldwide.
Interpol notices are also posted online, while diffusions are circulated through Interpol channels.
Senator Bong Go, an ally of Duterte, called the former President’s arrest an “unlawful surrender” by the Philippine government.
“How and why did we end up in this situation? We have an existing justice system in our country, we have our own laws and courts, so why did the government allow a Filipino to be arrested in our own land?” Go said.
Malacañang, for its part, said the Philippines is an “independent” country amid Senator Marcos’ insinuations that the country has become a “province of The Hague.”
“We will never want to become a province of any other state because we are an independent country. We will never want to be a province of Fujian, China. That never crossed our mind as we were only implementing our laws,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said.
Castro cited Republic Act No. 9851, or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, which authorizes authorities to surrender or extradite the accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court.
“We are only for the truth and to show that what we have done is in accordance with the law,” she added.
Duterte, the first Asian head of state to face ICC charges, stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed thousands.
The ICC said in its arrest warrant there were “reasonable grounds to believe” at least 19 people had been murdered in the city by members of the “Davao Death Squad” headed by Duterte.
Additionally, based on the warrant, at least 24 people were killed by Philippines police in various locations.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, for his part, reaffirmed Tuesday that while the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines as a state, it has jurisdiction over individuals accused of crimes under international humanitarian law.
“The jurisdiction of the ICC is throughout the world. We belong to the community of nations that is tied together by a legal system called International Humanitarian Law,” Remulla told the Senate panel.
Remulla said the ICC only prosecutes individuals, not states, meaning the Philippines cannot be compelled to cooperate with the court.
However, he clarified that Filipino citizens accused of crimes under ICC jurisdiction must face proceedings independently.