ICC opens portal for submitting drug war info

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened an online portal where witnesses, including former and current law enforcement officers and government officials, may submit information about the previous administration’s so-called war against illegal drugs.

Kristina Conti, ICC assistant to counsel and one of the lawyers representing the victims of the drug war, said the ICC’s witness appeal will allow anybody who has credible information on the matter to directly submit it to the tribunal.

She said information “transmitted will be kept confidential, but with consent can be brought up during trial.”

Witnesses may submit information through appeals.icc-cpi.int.
The portal has English and Tagalog language options.

A dropdown menu on the portal classifies possible witnesses into six groups. These include current or former officers of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, current or former officers of the National Bureau of Investigation; and current or former officials of barangay, municipality or city.

Other classifications are current or former government official, legislator or member of the judiciary; a victim or eyewitness of a crime related to the drug war.

According to the ICC, information shared on the platform would be reviewed. If necessary, the ICC would contact for clarification any of those who have provided information.

“We will review every submission, but cannot respond to everyone. In all cases, we thank you for your submission,” it added.

The ICC prosecutor is currently investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed in the Philippines from Nov. 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019, the period when the country was officially a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the tribunal.

Aside from the previous administration’s drug war, the investigation is also looking at the supposed crimes committed by the so-called Davao Death Squad when Duterte was mayor and later vice mayor of Davao City.

Various groups are hopeful that arrests warrants against those being investigated, particularly former president Rodrigo Duterte, would soon be released.

In a statement last October, the ICC prosecutor said it was closely following developments in the Philippines, including the ongoing legislative inquiries into the drug war.

It said its investigations were based on a wide range of sources, such as “Article 15 communications, information from States, international partners and civil society, open-source information and the direct collection of evidence by the Office, including interviews with witnesses.”

Article 15 communications refer to information sent to the ICC prosecutor in relation to alleged crimes that fall within the tribunal’s jurisdiction. It was provided for under Article 15 of the Rome Statute.