The New York Times reports on a recent decision by the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor for the Philippines to conduct a preliminary examination into allegations of international crimes, including murder, tortur, and other abuses, committed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s violent “war on drugs.” The prosecutor’s announcement follows the murder of a government senator who had been a prominent critic of the campaign, and mounting international pressure — including hearings before the United Nations Human Rights Council and an investigation by the U.N. Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights — that have, to date, failed to elicit any accountability for the strategy’s devastating toll on tens of thousands of victims and their families. Building on the “principles for addressing human rights concerns through dialogue, technical cooperation, and capacity-building” previously set forth in its “Consensus Statement,” the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention urges the Republic of the Philippines to meaningfully engage with the ICC, as well as other international accountability mechanisms and initiatives — including, if necessary, making necessary referrals to these bodies — in order to ensure that the investigation into these grave international crimes can proceed swiftly and impartially, and that justice can ultimately be served for the victims of these crimes.
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