ICC temporarily suspends Duterte's 'war on drugs' probe

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has temporarily suspended its investigation into suspected rights abuses committed under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign on illegal drugs.

Philippine Ambassador Eduardo Malaya requested a deferral of the probe, adding that the Philippine government was investigating the alleged abuses, according to court documents.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said the prosecution suspended its investigative activities as it looked into the deferral request. Khan added that they would seek additional information from the Philippine government.

The ICC authorized a full probe into Duterte's "war on drugs" campaign in September.

Human rights groups slam suspension

Human Rights Watch (HRW) dismissed the Philippines' claim that it could bring justice to its citizens, calling the notion of conducting its own investigation "absurd" and an attempt to stave off the ICC probe.

Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, said the reality "is that impunity is the norm under President Duterte, which is why the ICC needs to investigate."

Adams added that only some of the killings were being investigated in the early stages by the Philippine government and that "despite many clear-cut cases of murder," no charges had been filed.

The National Union of People's Lawyers, which represents a number of victims' families, said the ICC investigation was the only hope for their clients to see justice.

"The actions taken by the ICC during the last few months had given them that faint glimmer of hope," it said. "We cannot take that away from them now," it added.

Why is Duterte being investigated?

The ICC, along with other rights groups, have leveled heavy criticism at Duterte's bloody anti-narcotics campaign.

In September, the ICC said it hadsufficient reason to believe that crimes against humanity were committed during Duterte's drug crackdown since he took office in 2016. 

The Hague-based court first launched a preliminary probe into rights abuses in February 2018, after a Philippine lawyer filed a complaint with the court, accusing Duterte of making killing "best practice" in his clampdown.

Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the ICC in 2019, saying he was the target of baseless attacks by UN officials. 

However, the ICC maintained it still had jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed between 2016 and 2019.

According to official data, at least 6,181 people have been killed in more than 200,000 anti-drug operations since July 2016. ICC prosecutors estimate the figure of deaths to be between 12,000 and 30,000.

rm/sri (Reuters, AFP, dpa)