Finally, the Philippine government has launched its own probe into possible crimes against international humanitarian law that might have been committed in connection with the bloody campaign against illegal drugs that Rodrigo Duterte launched during his presidency.
Under oath, Duterte had given self-incriminating statements – although peppered with inconsistencies – to both the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee and the quad committee of the House of Representatives. Combined with the sworn testimonies of several witnesses in the congressional probes, state prosecutors should have enough ground to indict Duterte in court for violations of Republic Act 9851. Passed in December 2009, RA 9851 is the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity.
If the case reaches the courts, and the judiciary applies RA 8493 – the Speedy Trial Act of 1998 – plus rules issued by the Supreme Court in line with the constitutional mandate for speedy trial, Duterte and several of his minions could be held accountable for mass killings and penalized within the current administration, long before he dies.
The probe is being undertaken by a task force formed by the Department of Justice to investigate extrajudicial killings believed to have been carried out under Duterte’s so-called war on drugs. It’s unclear if the DOJ probe will include EJKs perpetrated by a so-called Davao death squad when Duterte was the city mayor, and killings that he himself carried out, as he told the quad committee last week.
Also unclear is how the DOJ probe will affect any attempt by the International Criminal Court to get custody of Duterte, who is under ICC investigation for possible murder as a crime against humanity. The ICC probe has been going on for several years now, but the court has failed to get statements from Duterte and his officials who played key roles in his crackdown on drugs, including those who supervised an alleged cash reward system that encouraged police officers to kill drug suspects.
Duterte denied there was such a reward system, but he admitted the existence of a death squad in Davao and killing criminals himself, although he was vague on specifics. He has taunted the ICC to try him before he dies. The Marcos administration has maintained that there is no need for the ICC to step in because the country’s criminal justice system is fully functional. This will be tested by the ongoing DOJ probe of Duterte.