News Forum - International Criminal Court pauses probe into Philippines president’s bloody war on drugs

[Thaiger]

The investigation into Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs has been has been temporarily suspended by the International Criminal Court. The ICC launched the probe into alleged human rights violations during the president’s campaign against illegal drugs where thousands have died since Duterte took office in June 2016. The Court has reportedly halted the investigation to review a deferral request from Manila, which has been seen as a major setback for human rights activists to press the Court to continue its probe. The ICC investigation into the accusations on the president by families of the victims and human […]

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[JohninDublin]

It was cases just like this that the ICC was set up to resolve.

Of course this "request" to delay the investigation presents certain problems. The most obvious one being that PI has withdrawn from the ICC, and thus any question of jurisdiction is limited to the period prior to withdrawal. The bulk of these crimes were committed after the withdrawal and thus cannot be investigated by the ICC. Then of course, there is Duterte Harry's age (76). What are the chances, he will still be around to face Justice when this purported inquiry is completed?

If I was the ICC, I'd suggest that PI should investigate the crimes post-withdrawal, while the ICC should investigate those which they are entitled to, pre-withdrawal.