Lawyer for Philippines hitman files complaint against Duterte at ICC
A Philippines lawyer filed a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte and senior officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday, accusing them of crimes against humanity in a nationwide anti-drugs crackdown.
Attorney Jude Sabio said in the 77-page complaint that Duterte “repeatedly, unchangingly and continuously” committed crimes against humanity and that under him, killing drug suspects and other criminals has become “best practice”.
Sabio is the lawyer for Edgar Matobato, a man who has testified in the Philippines Senate that he was part of a hit squad that operated on Duterte’s orders.
It is the first publicly known communication to the ICC against Duterte and is based on the testimony of Matobato and retired policeman Arturo Lascanas, statements from rights groups and media reports, including a Reuters series on the killings.
The complaint alleges that Duterte and at least 11 senior government officials are liable for murder and calls for an investigation, arrest warrants and a trial.
Lawmakers found no proof of Matobato’s Senate testimony, which the president’s aides have dismissed as fabrication.
Almost 9,000 people have been killed since Duterte took office last summer. Police claim a third of those killings were in self-defence during legitimate police operations. Rights groups say many of the remaining two-thirds were committed by vigilantes cooperating with the police or by police disguised as vigilantes. Police deny this.
Duterte has persistently denied he is involved with any death squad and said that his orders to kill drug suspects come with the caveat that police should operate within the bounds of the law.
Ernesto Abella, a spokesman for Duterte, said last week authorities “follow operational protocols” and those who breached procedures were made to answer before the law.
He added that news reports about close to 9,000 people being killed in the drug war was “false news”.
Citing standard procedure, ICC spokesman Fadi el Abdallah declined comment on any possible communication filed. However, Reuters saw a copy of the complaint signed as received by the office of the ICC prosecutor.
Officials at Duterte’s office said they were not immediately able to comment.
Duterte has said he welcomed the prospect of the ICC putting him on trial. He said last month he would not be intimidated and his campaign against drugs would be unrelenting and “brutal”.
