Philippines says ICC examining complaint alleging Duterte involved in crimes against humanity

08, Feb 2018 | CJP Team

According to the Guardian, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque has said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has notified that country that it has launched a preliminary examination of complaint against Duterte that includes allegations of crimes against humanity. It alleges that Duterte was complicit in several thousand unlawful deaths in his government’s bloody war on drugs. Roque said Duterte “wants to be in court and put the prosecutor on the stand.” The complaint against Duterte and at least 11 other senior government officials was lodged in April 2017 by a Philippines lawyer. Police have killed around 4,000 Filipinos, most of them part of the urban poor, within the past 19 months. Police have said the killings took place in “legitimate anti-drug operations, the Guardian said, with suspects resisting arrest violently. Duterte has told the police several times that they can kill if their lives are threatened. However, human rights organisations have alleged that Duterte provoked murder, saying he won’t probe accusations of police planting proof, falsifying reports and “executing” drug dealers and users.