Group to use Duterte’s EJK admission in ICC case

MANILA, Philippines — The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) is set to file next week a supplemental pleading before the International Criminal Court (ICC) following President Duterte’s statement on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in his war on illegal drugs.

NUPL chairman Neri Colmenares said they will use Duterte’s “admission” in a recent speech that EJKs were his only “sin” in his two-year campaign to solve the country’s drug problem.

“We are now completing the pleading. Of course we will try to get an official certified true copy of the transcript from Malacañang,” he said in a news forum in Quezon City.

In the event Malacañang refuses, Colmenares said they will use as evidence footage of Duterte’s speech where he uttered his “damning” statement.

Last month, relatives of EJK victims, backed by the NUPL, filed a complaint for crimes against humanity against Duterte, claiming the President is the mastermind of state-sponsored killings of drug suspects.

For Colmenares, Duterte’s admission is strong evidence to prove his involvement in the spate of killings related to his anti-illegal drugs campaign.

Citing provisions of the Rules of Court, he said an admission can be used as evidence against a person. He added there were previous rulings by the Supreme Court accepting admissions made in public by an individual accused of wrongdoing.

“If you are doing something that is against your interest, it is presumed to be true because no person will admit something against his interest,”  Colmenares said.

He said a retraction from Duterte or “spin” from his subordinates could not change the fact that he admitted to committing a crime.

Colmenares is urging the ICC to act immediately to prevent more drug-related killings in the country.

“We are telling the ICC that you have to act now because if they won’t act, more deaths will come,” he said.

The government said at least 4,854 suspected pushers and users have been killed since Duterte took office in July 2016.

Good for the ICC

A group of rights advocates said what Duterte did was something extraordinary and that the admission “is a boon” to ICC investigators conducting a preliminary examination into possible crimes against humanity linked to Duterte’s “murderous” war on drugs.

Conservative estimates indicate that more than 12,000 men, women and children have been killed in the anti-drug campaign since Duterte took office in June 2016.

Duterte’s admission could also boost efforts by United Nations member states seeking a UN probe into the killings, Phelim Kine, deputy director of HRW’s Asia Division, said.

Kine said Philippine government officials quickly attempted to walk back Duterte’s statement.

“Within hours, Duterte’s spokesman described it as ‘playful’ and insisted that ‘I don’t think the context there was literal.’ In a special press conference, Philippine National Police (chief) Director General Oscar Albayalde dismissed the President’s remarks as an expression of ‘frustration’ rather than an admission of guilt,” Kine said. – With Rhodina Villanueva