MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice has finished its review of the Philippine National Police case files on "drug war " operations that resulted in deaths, Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday.
But whether the families of victims calling for accountability from law enforcers will have access to this report is still up for discussion.
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“I’m just going over it. We’ll discuss it with the PNP,” Guevarra told reporters on Monday.
He added that the inter-agency review panel, led by the DOJ, will also discuss whether the families of the victims in the 52 operations — a number that rights groups say is “too paltry” against the thousands dead in "drug war" operations — will be given copies of the report.
"All these matters will be discussed by the review panel. If criminal investigation is warranted, witnesses including family members will be sought and called upon to provide information," Guevarra said.
Guevarra himself told the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2020 that the Philippine government will conduct a review on more than 5,000 police “drug war” operations that resulted in deaths.
After delays in the submission of its report, which the DOJ chief said is also due to pandemic restrictions, the panel in December 2020 said it found that police failed to follow standard protocols in more than half of the operations. No full examinations of the recovered weapon or ballistic examinations were conducted to verify alleged shootouts with suspects either.
The PNP has since then given access to the DOJ to 52 cases under its Internal Affairs Services where clear liability was found on police officers involved in the operation.
But rights lawyer Neri Colmenares, among the lawyers of victims who sought help from the International Criminal Court, pointed out that the DOJ disclosure that it is reviewing these deadly operations five years since the start of the administration is a “fatal admission.”
“I’m sure the ICC noticed that incident reports are only given now. I’m sure the ICC knows that unless the DOJ reports and investigates, there will be no prosecution,” he said in a virtual press conference on Monday.
READ: UN rights chief: Drug war review should lead to meaningful results
‘It starts and ends with Duterte’
Sectoral group Rise Up for Life and for Rights, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers and several other groups on Monday pressed the ICC to proceed with an official investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity in the Philippines.
The ICC set a deadline for the submission of their views as it deliberates on former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s request for judicial authority to conduct a full-blown investigation into Duterte and his men’s accountability in the bloody "drug war."
Lawyer Krissy Conti, counsel for the victims, said their submissions went beyond the initial seven accounts and spanned nationwide.
Conti said they are protecting the families who filed their testimonies and withheld information on them but the families have expressed willingness and are resolute to participate in the trial.
"Majority (of the families) want an investigation into Duterte," she said.
Sharing part of the incidents submitted, Conti said the families asserted: "Si Duterte ang may kasalanan, puno’t dulo."
She said they noted four types of killings: Police killings, vigilante killings, those found dead and those who died in police custody.
All these killings, Conti said, can be traced to Duterte and his “drug war.”
Even those who died in custody, whether through natural causes, were still put in jail due to the “drug war,” she pointed out.
“Everything, the bottom line is Duterte… they still want him investigated,” Conti also said.