Rodrigo Duterte during a meeting.

The UN International Criminal Court (ICC) is determined to pursue its investigation of the alleged crimes against humanity filed against President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte over the killings that arose from his bloody and violent war on illegal drugs.

This was announced by Fathou Bensuda, the ICC chief prosecutor, who said she aimed to finalise the preliminary probe of the complaints next year “to enable the prosecutor to reach a decision on whether to seek authorization to open an investigation into the situation in the Philippines.” In its report for 2019, the ICC said it has “significantly advanced” its assessment on the alleged human rights violations in the Philippines to check if there is a basis to conduct an investigation on the issue.

“In addition to killings, it has been alleged that some individuals have been subjected to serious ill-treatment and abuses prior to being killed by state actors and other unidentified assailants such as after being arrested or abducted and while being held in custody prior to their deaths,” the ICC report read.

It also emphasized: “It has been alleged that in several incidents, relatives (such as spouses, parents or children of the victims witnessed the killings, thereby sustaining serious mental suffering.” But even worse, “it has been reported that in at least a few incidents, members of law enforcement raped women who were apparently targetted because of their personal relationships to individuals alleged to have been involved in drug activities,” the report pointed out.

Human rights activists led by the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) welcomed the ICC statement, saying it provided a “glimmer of hope” for the relatives for victims especially of extra-judicial killings which, they claimed, have already soared to 27,000.

“Alas, there is a glimmer of hope in the near horizon that the dark nights of impunity would soon usher a bright clear daybreak of accountability for abuse of power,” said Edre Olalia, the NUPL president, who helped file the complaints filed against Duterte before the ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands.