ASEANEWS HEADLINE-DU30 ICC EJK PRE-TRIAL | THE HAGUE: ‘Mr. Duterte must be held to account’
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Prosecution: Those in power are not above the law
MANILA, Philippines — The hearing on the confirmation of charges against former president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened yesterday with an impassioned plea for justice for victims of his deadly campaign against illegal drugs.
“While this court cannot reunite victims with their loved ones, it can help rebuild the truth about what happened to them and bring a sense of justice to the victims,” ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said in his opening statement.
“The charge before you today is serious, and the evidence submitted require their confirmation. Mr. Duterte must be held to account, and this case must be confirmed for trial,” he told the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I.
After five months of delay, the confirmation of charges against the former president formally opened at the Courtroom 1 of the ICC headquarters in The Hague at exactly 9 a.m. (5 p.m. in Manila). There was a 30-minute delay in the livestreaming of the hearing.
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The Pre-Trial Chamber I is composed of Presiding Judge Iulia Antonella Motoc and Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera.
Unlike his initial appearance hearing, when he appeared via video conference from his detention facility, Duterte was allowed to skip the confirmation hearings.
He was represented by his lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman, who also recognized the Filipino lawyers in the gallery assisting the defense. These included Duterte’s former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, former spokesman Salvador Panelo and former labor secretary Silvestre Bello III.
In her initial remarks, Motoc clarified that the confirmation of charges hearing will not determine whether Duterte is guilty or innocent of the crimes charged.
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“The role of the chamber is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte committed the crimes with which he is charged,” she said.
“If all or part of the charges are confirmed, the chamber will refer the case to trial, where the Trial Chamber will decide upon the innocence or guilt of Mr. Duterte,” she added.
Charges
The session opened with the reading of charges against Duterte.
As indicated in the document containing charges that were earlier released, he is facing three counts of crimes against humanity covering 49 incidents involving 76 killings and two attempted murders.
He was named an indirect co-perpetrator in both the drug war killings and those committed by the so-called Davao death squad (DDS) when he was mayor or vice mayor of Davao City.
The charges cover incidents from Nov. 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019, when the Philippines was a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.
Specifically included were 19 DDS killings from 2013 to 2016 in the Davao area, as well as 14 victims of high-value targets and 43 killings during barangay clearance operations when Duterte was president.
“These murders and attempted murders were part of a widespread and systematic attack that, overall, resulted in the killings of thousands of civilians across the country,” Niang said in his opening statement.
“Thus, the charge incidents are merely a fraction of the overall criminality that resulted from Mr. Duterte’s so-called war on drugs,” he added.
The deputy prosecutor outlined Duterte’s alleged contributions to the killings, beginning with the establishment of the DDS when he first became mayor.
This policy, Niang alleged, was expanded into a national network when Duterte became president in 2016.
He quoted several remarks made by Duterte himself, including those where he took accountability for the killings.
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In addition to Duterte’s statements, Niang said the prosecution will rely on insider witnesses, various government policies and reports and other evidence to support the charges.
“The victims of extrajudicial killings charged in this case were brutally murdered, some after having been abducted and mistreated. Unlike Mr. Duterte who is represented by his counsel here today, they were deprived of any form of due process,” he said.
“The loss of every single one of these victims has the most profound impact on their families, their friends and ultimately their communities,” the prosecutor added.
Last recourse
Speaking on behalf of the victims, Joel Butuyan, who was one of the two Filipino lawyers appointed as common legal representatives of the victims, appealed to the pre-trial judges to confirm the charges.
“This case symbolically represents the last boat the victims can board to go on a journey in search of justice for their loved ones,” Butuyan told the chamber.
“If this chamber prevents the boat from sailing by not confirming the charges, the victims will forever be moored in an island where the nights are filled with the screams and cries of their massacred loved ones. There is absolutely no other recourse for the victims,” he added.
The lawyer also expressed the victims’ disappointment in the decision to allow Duterte to skip the proceedings.
“The sight of Mr. Duterte being read, and being confronted with the grave and horrible charges against him, would have constituted a vital component of justice for the victims,” he said.
In his opening statement, Butuyan highlighted the statement made by former justice secretary and now Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, who noted the difficulty of prosecuting drug war charges in the Philippines.
“If the charges are not confirmed in this case, one of the gravest concerns of the victims is that Mr. Duterte will return to the Philippines as a conquering hero,” he said.
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“He will resume preaching his gospel of impunity. In fact, if Mr. Duterte could threaten to slap the judges of this court, which he did while he was president. This chamber should imagine the kind of terror-filled threats and the violent actions that can easily be used against the victims if the suspect walks free from this court,” the lawyer added.
Butuyan described how, despite Duterte’s detention, victims continue to fear for their safety.
“Duterte has created clones of himself. He converted millions of peace-loving citizens into bloodthirsty disciples who have become converts to the belief that violence and killings are valid solutions to societal problems,” he said.
“The killings masterminded by Mr. Duterte continue to have consequences for the victims, even to this day, because of his clones. These mini-Dutertes harass, threaten or commit outright violence against the victims and their families,” he added.
Earlier, groups representing drug war victims urged pre-trial judges of the ICC to confirm the murder and attempted murder charges against Duterte.
‘Prolonged grief’
“For years, thousands of families have carried the burden of loss and prolonged grief,” the Duterte Panagutin Network said in a statement ahead of Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing yesterday.
“While the hearing on confirmation of charges does not talk about a declaration of guilt, the proceedings today affirm that crimes have been committed and the victims have been given a space and their presence and voices are recognized,” it added.
Almost 10 years since Duterte launched his deadly campaign against illegal drugs, the group noted that domestic remedies for justice and reparation to victims and their families are still difficult to access.
“He must not get away with his gruesome crimes against the Filipino people no matter how long the trial will take,” the network said.
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“We will wait, and we will remain vigilant until justice is fully served,” it added.
Human rights group Karapatan said the families of victims have waited long enough.
“Duterte and his cohorts are accountable for his mass murder of the poor in his sham drug war and his counterinsurgency program,” it said in a separate statement.
“Duterte’s defense team has been filing motion after motion, all designed to delay and derail the confirmation of charges and the trial itself. These motions betray the Duterte camp’s fears that their client’s acts are indefensible, and their best bet hinges on such dilatory tactics and harping on unfounded claims that Duterte is unfit to stand trial,” it added.
Relatives of some drug war victims are in The Hague to monitor the proceedings.
Kristina Conti, an ICC-accredited assistant to counsel, clarified that the victims’ expenses do not come from government but from funds raised by various groups.
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