EJK victims’ kin have right to face ICC – lawyer

MANILA, Philippines — A lawyer for the families whose kin were killed during the Duterte administration’s drug war is opposing the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG)’s move to stop them from formally objecting to the government’s efforts to block International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors from investigating the country.

Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares, who represents several families in the ICC complaint against former president Rodrigo Duterte, said they have the right to participate in the proceedings and that the ICC should deny the appeal of the government’s top litigators.

In the OSG’s submission to the ICC last March 2, the government asked for the dismissal of both the Office of the Public Counsel for Victim’s request to appear before the appeals chamber and the anonymous application to present the victims’ opinions and concerns. It argued that the OPCV’s request and anonymous application “fall foul” of procedural and substantive requirements in proceedings in the ICC appeals chamber.

“The participation of the victims’ families and their witnesses are assured under Article 54 (3) (b) which empowers the prosecutor to ‘request the presence of and question persons being investigated, victims and witnesses.’ More importantly, Article 19 (3), which provides that ‘In proceedings with respect to jurisdiction or admissibility, those who have referred the situation under Article 13, as well as victims, may also submit observations to the Court,’ clearly grants the victims the right to submit their observations,” Colmenares said yesterday.

The human rights lawyer also said legal representation of the victims is assured under the Rome Statute.

“We ask the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber to deny this belated and dilatory tactic of ex-president Duterte,” he added.

Last month, about 90 family members of drug war victims filed before the ICC a request to present their views and concerns on the attempt of Philippine litigators to stop ICC prosecutors from investigating the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Duterte administration.

In their submission, they cited a provision in the Rome Statute––the framework that formed the ICC–– that allows victims to make their views and concerns admitted into the stages of the proceedings for as long as these do not prejudice the rights of the accused.

The OSG also stated that the ICC Appeals Chamber should reject the family members’ request as their anonymous application was unable to identify their legal representatives, whether such lawyers have the authority to represent them and whether the family members have been subjected to a preliminary assessment.

The ICC earlier cleared the way for its prosecutors to resume the investigation into the drug war killings, a decision that is currently under appeal.

Government litigators have been vocal about not letting the ICC investigate on Philippine soil the Duterte administration’s alleged crimes against humanity, viewing this as an insult and an attempt to “take over” the country’s justice system.