đź“· Former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares
Former Bayan Muna congressman and its current Chairman Neri Colmenares today questioned VP Sara Duterte’s assertion that there is no case for crimes against humanity against former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte in the ICC because only “43 cases” were mentioned in the warrant of arrest when crimes against humanity is a “serious allegation” that requires thousands of deaths.
“VP Sara Duterte’s assertion that there is no case of crime against humanity against Pres. Rodrigo Duterte because only 43 cases were mentioned in the Warrant of Arrest when “crimes against humanity is a serious allegation” requiring thousands of deaths has no basis at all under the Rome Statute of the ICC. It is also painful for the families of EJK victims to be called “fake victims” for merely seeking justice for their slain loved ones,” he said
“The defense will surely lose in the Confirmation of Charges Hearing if they use this argument as there are no exact number of deaths required for an act to be considered a crime against humanity under Art.7 of the Rome Statute and even under Rule 63-75 on evidence of the rules of procedure in the ICC.” said former Bayan Muna congressman Neri Colmenares.
“First, the elements of crimes against humanity under Art. 7 paragraph 1 only require a “widespread or systematic attack against civilians” proven by “multiple attacks” defined under Art. 7 par. 2 (a) and does not require a specific number of deaths. The evidence that the attacks were committed in various regions and provinces in the Philippines for at least six years proving widespread attacks cannot be surmounted by the defense. Ilan ba talaga ang papatayin ng isang presidente para masabing krimen ito sa sangkatauhan? Kung maliit na bagay sa mga Duterte ang pagpatay ng 43 ka-tao, hindi ito maliit sa mata ng mga biktima at ng mundo,” he added.
“Second, the 43 cases mentioned by the prosecutor in his application for a warrant merely provided a representation of the widespread attacks merely for the purpose of requesting for the issuance of the warrant. The charges he may file for the September 23 confirmation hearing may not be even limited to 43 cases considering that the PNP under Pres. Duterte has officially admitted to killing at least 6,252 victims during the drug war. When we filed the complaint in the ICC in 2018 as counsel for the victims, we only mentioned at least 4,410 deaths admitted by the PNP as of July 31, 2018. The PNP has never cooperated with the ICC prosecutor nor gave official documents on these deaths making it difficult for the families and the prosecutor to get access to information. Even the families of the victims were not given copies of police reports and there were cases when the SOCO report and death certificates were even doctored to cover up the crime. While the 43 cases are enough to convict Pres. Duterte for crimes against humanity we call on the current PNP and the DOJ to submit other reports and official documents to the ICC or the victims’ families so it can be considered as additional evidence in the trial,” added Colmenares who is serving as counsel to the victims together with Atty. Krissy Conti.
“Pres. Duterte will lose in the Confirmation Hearing if he uses this “small number of deaths” to claim that there is no case of crime against humanity against him.  Dominic Owen was convicted in 2021 for 61 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his attacks in Northern Uganda from 2002 to 2005 and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Bosco Ntaganda was convicted in 2019 on 5 counts of crime against humanity for his attacks against civilians in a district in Congo and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. His co-perpetrator Germain Katanga was convicted by the ICC in 2014 for one count of crimes against humanity and four counts of war crimes for his attacks in the same district in Congo and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. Based on these ICC decisions, there is no way that the ICC will release Pres. Duterte because the 43 cases against him are not serious enough to be considered crimes against humanity” Colmenares predicted.
“What is more hurtful is for the families of the victims to be called “fake victims” by VP Duterte. While Pres. Duterte enjoys the presumption of innocence in his trial and was read his rights upon his arrest, the EJK victims were arbitrarily adjudged guilty by Pres. Duterte and were mercilessly killed like dogs without any warrant or court hearing.  If Pres. Rodrigo Duterte and VP Sara Duterte only allowed the investigation of the EJKs during their reign they would have known that these are not fake victims like Mary Grace Piattos or Amuy Liu. While the Piattoses and the Amuys will never appear in any hearing, the families will attend and submit their evidence and comments during the trial of Pres. Duterte who will be the first Asian to be tried in the ICC. As he celebrates his birthday soon, many pray that he will have a long life to see the end of the trial where, the families hope, he will become the first Asian to be convicted in the ICC” Colmenares concluded.###
