ICC ruling vs Du30 release bid shows he’s fit for trial
The decision of a Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) denying former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bid for temporary liberty indicates that Duterte’s health and security pose no barriers to his participation in the case, according to a lawyer for the drug war victims.
In their ruling, the three-member PTC I noted that Duterte was allowed family visits and has access to medical care, with a nurse available 24/7.
Lawyer Kristina Conti said on Saturday that this was contrary to claims by Duterte’s lawyers and family, including Vice President Sara Duterte, who alleged that the former president was not receiving proper medical care and was visited by unauthorized individuals.
“This decision tells us that Duterte is still okay. They’re saying, yes, (the defense) presented medical results, but the ICC said the conclusions or the extrapolations of the defense cannot be taken as fact,” Conti told a news briefing.
There was “no other reason to say that he is at risk, whether health- or security-wise,” she said.
The decision on Duterte’s request for interim release may not directly impact other issues pending before the PTC, but it is related to the defense’s request to suspend pretrial proceedings indefinitely as this was also based on Duterte’s health condition.
Duterte’s chief counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, requested on Aug. 18 an indefinite adjournment of the pretrial proceedings, saying that the former president was “not fit to stand trial as a result of cognitive impairment in multiple domains.”
The defense claimed that his condition “will not improve,” hence the need to do away with the legal proceedings.
Hearing ‘modalities’
But according to Conti, a lawyer accredited by the ICC, the court is “open to set modalities” for Duterte to be able to attend confirmation hearings appropriate to his condition.
She said Duterte could attend hearings in person or remotely and allow time limits on sitting and periodic camera breaks.
Rule 124 of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, allows an accused to waive the right to physically attend the hearings through a written request to the chamber.
Conti said the lawyers and the victims are pushing for Duterte to face the court again for the confirmation of the murder charges against him.
Some of the families of drug war victims on Saturday were relieved by the decision of the PTC I to keep Duterte in detention and saw the ruling as a step closer to attaining justice.
“We’ve been waiting for this … for him to stay in The Hague,” said Llore Pasco, one of the mothers who lost their children to the drug war. They continue to feel fear despite Duterte being miles away.
“When they said they wanted Duterte to be released because he was sick and not fit to join hearings, it really worried us,” she said.
‘No remorse’
Jane Lee, whose husband was killed in 2017, said keeping Duterte in detention brings her “peace of mind.”
But she, like other loved ones left behind by the drug war victims, wishes that the other perpetrators be also arrested and charged in the ICC.
“It doesn’t feel right that after all these years, they act like they have no remorse for their actions. And they even treat themselves as victims who are being persecuted,” Lee said.
In its ruling, PTC I pointed to a history of Duterte and his associates interfering with investigations and judicial proceedings by threatening witnesses and victims.
“The chamber notes Mr. Duterte’s alleged involvement in briefing a witness due to testify before the Philippines Senate’s inquiry into the Davao Death Squad, as well as threatening and taking retaliatory actions against individuals opposed to him,” according to the 23-page decision.
This, it added, indicates Duterte’s “propensity to interfere with investigations against him.”
The court referenced an alleged meeting where then Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, an ally of Duterte, reportedly “instructed” then Philippine National Police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and other police officers from Davao City to “remain loyal” to Duterte and deny the allegations against him.
Dela Rosa and the police officers were called to appear in a series of Senate hearings on extrajudicial killings in 2016 and 2017.
Dela Rosa supposedly told Arturo Lascañas, one of the confessed hit men who implicated Duterte in the killings, that if other gunmen spoke against the former president, they should be “neutralized immediately.”
Pulong: ‘Political theater’
Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte dismissed the PTC I decision as “political theater.”
“My father, an 80-year-old man, who is no longer in power, has been in fact a subject of political persecution in his own country since he stepped down … he is definitely not a flight risk, he does not need it, he is much loved in his own country that he would have wanted nothing more but to stay there for as long as his creator permit him,” he said in a statement on Friday.
He said the authorities who brought his father to The Hague were “kidnappers,” and threatened them, saying: “You will pay for this crime that you have committed.”
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) also welcomed the ICC’s decision, calling it “right and just” as it “upholds the safety, rights and wishes of the victims who have faced the terror of Duterte’s Presidency.”
The group urged the international community to continue supporting survivors and their families, who still face harassment.
“We must continue to stand behind them, provide any support possible, and demand justice for the thousands of victims of Duterte’s war on the poor and dissent,” said ICHRP vice chair Patricia Lisson in a statement on Friday.
“President Duterte must face justice for his unspeakable crimes against the people,” she added. —WITH A REPORT FROM RESCEL OCAMPO
