Wanted in ICC: Filipino, Cebuano transcribers
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is once again looking for freelance workers, this time transcribers of Filipino and Cebuano languages, possibly to aid the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) in identifying more “coperpetrators” of the bloody war on drugs during Rodrigo Duterte’s years as mayor and president.
Human rights lawyer Kristina Conti said the job posting could mean that the other culpable officials “can still be identified” as the OTP has still not concluded its probe into the drug-related killings.
The investigation covers deaths that occurred from Nov. 1, 2011, to March 16, 2019, or when the Philippines was still a member of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.
“[It] is a clue that the ICC expects inflow of information in Filipino and Cebuano. When this case proceeds to trial, some witnesses or evidence might be in those languages and must be understood by the court,” she told the Inquirer. Conti is one of the lawyers assisting families of drug war victims in the ongoing probe in the ICC.
Language proficiency
The job opening published on Jan. 28 this year, or nearly two months before an arrest warrant from the ICC was served to Duterte, was for transcribers that would work for the Language Services Unit, a section under the Integrated Services Division of the OTP.
Applicants must have “[p]roficiency in listening to, understanding and writing Filipino and/or Tagalog and/or Cebuano,” the posting stated. Cebuano is the language widely spoken in most areas of Mindanao, including Duterte’s hometown of Davao City.
Duterte is currently under the custody of the ICC and is in detention at its facility in Scheveningen prison complex, a few minutes away from The Hague, the Netherlands.
He is facing allegations of crimes against humanity, including murder as an “indirect coperpetrator” in a “systematic and widespread” killing of at least 43 suspected drug users, pushers and thieves in various areas in the country.
The posting said the services of the transcriber would cover producing “self-reviewed transcripts swiftly and accurately” from audio or video files.
‘Disturbing nature’
ICC, however, declared a caveat on the nature of the job, stating: “Mindful of the nature of the ICC’s mandate and operations, freelance transcribers must understand that the audio/video material outsourced for transcription may on occasion risk being of an upsetting or disturbing nature.”
“The court reserves the right to prioriti(z)e candidates based on operational needs and security constraints,” it noted.
Shortlisted candidates would need to take a transcription-accredited test and those hired would join a team of accredited transcribers.
Early last year, the ICC also looked for translators in the Filipino, Tagalog and Cebuano languages, which was an indication of the progress of the investigation by the OTP headed by Karim Khan.
At the time, lawyers for the families of the victims slain in the bloody antinarcotics crackdown also welcomed the initiative from the OTP and said that it bolstered the possibility of Duterte being put on trial in The Hague-based tribunal.
In November last year, the ICC opened on its website a portal called the “ICC witness appeal” to call on more potential witnesses, including members of law enforcement who were willing to report the atrocities allegedly committed by Duterte and his subordinates in the name of the so-called war on drugs.
The microsite, appeals.icc-cpi.int, is still operational as of Wednesday night.
Some information submitted by witnesses could be kept confidential by the ICC, especially if it could compromise their safety, as shown by the release of the redacted version of the prosecutor’s application for an arrest warrant against Duterte. The 51-page document struck down the names of the slain victims cited in the murder charges.
