Guevarra: ICC prosecutor has local supporters for probe

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said the prosecutors from the International Criminal Court (ICC) could conduct their investigation of allegations that former President Rodrigo Duterte committed crimes against humanity in his war on drugs without going to the Philippines as it had “local groups” helping it.

Guevarra also insisted that the government had no obligation to cooperate with the ICC investigation.

“The ICC prosecutor can actually conduct his investigation without coming to the Philippines, as he has local groups providing him support and assistance,” Guevarra said on Thursday, referring to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who is leading the investigation.

“But as far as the government is concerned, it has maintained its position that the state has no legal duty to cooperate with the ICC investigator,” he reiterated.

Asked to identify the groups or persons helping the ICC probe, Guevarra said there was “no need to mention them.”

“These people know who they are. Some are legitimate human rights groups, some are notorious individuals with personal political agendas,” he told the Inquirer.

The government has not disclosed whether ICC representatives have entered the country.

“If ICC personnel had actually entered the country, the BI (Bureau of Immigration) would have the necessary information,” Guevarra said.

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Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said at a press briefing last week that when ICC investigators do enter the country, they must formally inform the government of their intent and purposes, especially if what they would gather during their visit would be used in legal proceedings.

The Appeals Chamber of the ICC in July last year denied the government’s request to discontinue the investigation and allowed its prosecutor to resume his probe.

According to the Philippine National Police, 6,252 had been killed in the Duterte administration’s antidrug campaign, but the Commission on Human Rights said the actual death toll was closer to 30,000 if it included the “deaths under investigation,” or those killed by unidentified assailants. INQ