Countless people were also killed by “unknown” gunmen, who later turned out to be police officers, according to news reports. They accuse the authorities of carrying out summary executions that killed innocent suspects, including children.Īmong those killed were at least 73 children, with the youngest just five months old, according to a UN investigation. Human rights groups say the number of deaths could be between 27,000 and 30,000. In December 2016, Al Jazeera reported more than 6,000 deaths in the drug war, raising questions about the inconsistency of the government’s record-keeping system and the possible “manipulation” of government data. But government figures cited by the UN in June 2020 already showed at least 8,600 deaths.Ī Philippine police report in 2017 also referred to 16,355 “homicide cases under investigations” as accomplishments in the drugs war. The latest government data released in June shows that as of the end of April 2021, police and other security forces have killed at least 6,117 suspected drug dealers during its operations. During his campaign and later on as president, he repeatedly urged police to “kill” drug suspects.Īfter taking office on June 30, 2016, he immediately launched his deadly campaign described by the country’s Catholic leaders as a “reign of terror”. ‘Reign of terror’ĭuterte ran for president in 2016 on a single issue of fighting crime in the Philippines. Now there’s hope that the victims can attain justice, and those who committed the crimes will be punished,” she told Al Jazeera on Thursday. I feel some sense of relief and happiness. She was one of the mothers who petitioned the ICC to investigate the deadly “war on drugs”. Hearing the news of the ICC decision, Llore Pasco, a resident of Metro Manila whose two sons were killed in May 2017, said she is relieved that the case is moving forward. Panelo also said that ICC investigators would not be permitted to enter the country to conduct the probe. In an interview with DZBB, a Manila-based radio station on Thursday, Salvador Panelo, the president’s legal counsel repeated previous statements staying that the Duterte administation will not cooperate with the investigation. When Bensouda’s recommendation was announced in June, Duterte dismissed the news saying it was “bulls**t” while threatening to “slap” the ICC magistrates.
#Liberal crime squad start questions trial
The ICC also noted that they have reviewed supporting materials that indicate that Philippine authorities “failed to take meaningful steps to investigate or prosecute the killings.” It also noted that that perpetrators of the killings were even offered “cash payments, promotions or awards for killings in the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign.”įormer ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda filed the request to investigate just before her retirement in June, alleging that “state actors, primarily members of the Philippine security forces, killed thousands of suspected drug users and other civilians during official law enforcement operations.”īensouda’s successor, Prosecutor Karim Khan, will now oversee the actual probe and possible trial of the case.
The court said that its judges considered the evidence presented on behalf of at least 204 victims, and what they found suggested that a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population took place pursuant to or in furtherance of a state policy”.
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