Relatives of victims of President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called war on drugs comfort each other as they gather at a Roman Catholic church in the Philippines’ Quezon city, two days ahead of the country’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court on 17 March 2019. On 18 July 2023, the ICC ruled that it still had jurisdiction to investigate drug-related killings that took place before the country pulled out. (Keystone/AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Victims gain hope as ICC reopens Philippines drug war probe. The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on 18 July that it will relaunch its investigations into an anti-drug crackdown in the Philippines that killed thousands of people after rejecting the government’s bid to block it.

The move is a big step towards justice for thousands of victims, who have had to wait almost two years since the ICC initially launched its probe, in September 2021, into possible crimes against humanity committed under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership.

More than 6,000 people were killed, according to official statistics, during the ex-president’s brutal campaign to purge the country of illegal drugs, which launched soon after taking office in 2016. Duterte publicly encouraged police as well as ordinary citizens to kill people they suspected were drug dealers or users.

Current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., should support these steps to put its bloody past behind it. However, throughout this process, the government has maintained that it will not cooperate with the ICC in any way, shape or form, seeing the court’s involvement as an affront to its national sovereignty.

But in rejecting Manila’s latest appeal this month to throw out the investigation, the ICC is reaffirming its clout: the court’s judges ruled that prosecutors still have jurisdiction over the alleged crimes – despite the Philippines’ objections – because they occurred before the country withdrew its membership of the court in 2019.

This ruling shows how the court can still flex its muscles and move forward with its probe – with or without the country’s cooperation. And importantly, after two years of uncertainty for victims and their families, the decision paves the way for international prosecutors to bring accountability for these killings. Even though the case will move forward without the cooperation of the Philippines, it’s in the interest of victims and the country that the government cooperates with the court.

- Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima

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