ICC prosecution ends merits presentation on Duterte case
Duterte’s anti-drug campaign disproportionately affected the poor and the marginalized.
CAGAYAN DE ORO — The prosecution has concluded its submission on the merits of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged crimes against humanity during the second day of the confirmation of charges hearing before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday, February 24.
ICC Trial Lawyer Robynne Croft ended the presentation by recalling two items, which are Duterte’s campaign promise to eradicate illegal drugs in six months and the spread of killings under his presidency within the same period.
Both Croft and ICC Trial Lawyer Edward Jeremy, members of the prosecution team, presented evidence that could illustrate how Duterte executed the systemic killings on a national scale through the “national network,” backed by statements of witnesses in the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS).
Evidence presented included government and independent data on drug-related deaths, a list of illegal drug personalities, and a command memorandum circular issued by then-Philippine National Police chief and now Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa—one of the identified alleged co-perpetrators—in 2016, detailing the plan to pursue the “neutralization” of drug peddlers.
“To neutralize” means “to kill,” according to DDS inside witnesses as mentioned by ICC prosecutors.
The so-called national network, meanwhile, was composed of Duterte’s co-perpetrators from law enforcement agencies and police and non-police individuals who allegedly carried out the killings.
Read: ICC identifies Duterte’s co-perpetrators in ‘drug war’
Like the opening day, Duterte’s public speeches were also presented, as they outlined his policy on the common plan which was to neutralize alleged criminals.
Croft also shared that the number of suspects killed in police operations in the first 25 months of Duterte as president reportedly increased to 590 percent from the previous administration based on a comparison made by an undisclosed political violence expert.
“The only plausible explanation for such an extreme ratio is a widespread policy of extrajudicial execution,” Croft quoted the expert’s conclusion.
The prosecution alleged that Duterte indirectly co-perpetrated, ordered and/or induced, and aided and abetted the crimes against humanity.
Due to time constraints, Croft focused her presentation on the former president’s indirect co-perpetration. She said that Duterte is an indirect co-perpetrator of the crimes because he agreed to the common plan to neutralize alleged criminals. He and his co-perpetrators controlled the DDS and the national network to pursue the said plan. He also made essential contributions to the crimes within the framework of the plan.
Croft said, “There can be no doubt about Duterte’s knowledge and intent.”
Meanwhile, lawyer Gilbert Andres, a legal representative of the victims, said that Duterte’s anti-drug campaign disproportionately affected the poor and the marginalized.
He cited the family’s trauma from witnessing how their family members were brutally killed and suffered the loss of a loved one who are mostly breadwinners. He said that families, especially children, who were left behind were also stigmatized. Children were avoided at school or bullied.
“And because the murdered Tokhang victims were usually the breadwinners of their families, their death meant that their surviving family members were pushed toward further poverty. The surviving family members experienced extreme socioeconomic dislocation with the murder of their breadwinner.”
“Thus, Mr. Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, aside from murdering victims from low-income communities, the drug campaign destroyed the trust in the close-knit communities of the murdered Tokhang victims and ultimately destroyed the social fabric of these communities,” Andres said.
Andres said, “Ultimately, Mr. Duterte’s anti-drug campaign not only murdered people but perpetrated state terror against low-income, marginalized communities across the Philippines.”
Andres said that Duterte’s “drug war campaign” was not a war on drugs. “It was a war against the poor. And the continued stigmatization of the indirect victims, the surviving family members, still persist until now. The children of the murdered victims are still suffering psychologically, mentally, and socioeconomically.”
The confirmation of charges hearing will resume on February 26. (With reports from Anne Marxze D. Umil) (DAA)
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