MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is still “analyzing” whether it has jurisdiction over the communication filed by former ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario against Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding China’s environmentally destructive activities in the South China Sea, particularly its building of artificial islands.
In an interview yesterday with CNN Philippines’ “The Source,” lawyer Anne Marie Corominas said the ICC Office of the Prosecutor sent an email dated May 20 – the eve of Morales’ detention in Hong Kong – informing them of the development in the complaint.
“The office is analyzing the allegations identified in your communication with the assistance of other related communications and other information available,” Corominas said, reading from the email of the ICC.
“The purpose of the analysis is to see if the alleged crimes are within the jurisdiction of the court, and that if they do, then that would open a preliminary examination,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor said a “meaningful analysis” could take some time to complete, even if it would be “carried out as expeditiously as possible.”
Immigration authorities in Hong Kong held Morales at the airport for hours for unclear reasons. Initially, immigration officials said they had to deny Morales entry to Hong Kong for security reasons.
It was believed Morales’ filing of the case against Xi had something to do with her airport ordeal.
In March, Del Rosario, Morales and a group of Filipino fishermen filed a complaint against Xi before the ICC for “atrocious” actions in the South China Sea and in Philippine waters. They said in the complaint China’s actions constitute a crime against humanity.
“One of the reasons we had filed our case in the ICC is to be able to push back against the bullying and harassment that we have been encountering from our Goliath of a neighbor,” Del Rosario said.
The complaint outlines how Xi and other officials of China, in implementing China’s systematic plan to control the South China Sea, have committed crimes the prosecution of which is within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
According to Del Rosario, Xi was “directly” responsible for the plight of Filipino fishermen, with China’s wreaking havoc on marine resources with its building of artificial islands.
Also named in the complaint were Chinese state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jinhua.
Morales and Del Rosario, in their complaint, said grave consequences of Chinese actions justify the ICC’s involvement in accordance with the principles of the Rome Statute that “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished and their effective prosecution must be ensured.”
They urged the ICC to immediately initiate a preliminary examination of their complaint “if only so the Court can apprise itself of Chinese crimes committed not only against the Filipino people, but also against people of other nations, which crimes are already known to the international community.”
They called their initiative another “David and Goliath” case aimed at disciplining the Chinese leader and making him and other officials accountable for destroying precious marine resources.
Morales said they filed the communication before the Duterte administration moved to dissociate the Philippines from the Rome Statute that created the ICC.