PHL leaves International Criminal Court over drug war inquiry

The Philippines officially quit the International Criminal Court on Sunday, though the beleaguered tribunal has pledged to pursue its examination of possible crimes in the government's deadly drug war.

The country's withdrawal became final a year after it told the United Nations that it was quitting the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, the second nation to do so.

"The Secretary-General... informed all concerned states that the withdrawal will take effect for the Philippines on 17 March," UN spokesperson Eri Kaneko told AFP.

The departure of the Philippines follows the court being hit in recent years by high-profile acquittals and moves by several nations to drop out.

The Philippines moved to quit after the body launched a preliminary examination in 2018 of President Rodrigo Duterte's drug crackdown that has killed thousands and drawn international censure.

Duterte's drug war is his signature policy initiative and he defends it fiercely, especially from international critics like Western leaders and institutions which he says don't care about his country.

However, court officials have said the preliminary probe launched by ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in February 2018 into possible crimes against humanity in the drug war would continue.

Under the court's rules, any matter under consideration before a nation leaves the court is still under its jurisdiction.

String of setbacks

Duterte has made it clear his government will not cooperate with the ICC in any way.

"The court "can never acquire jurisdiction over my person. Not in a million years," he said in a speech on Wednesday.

The examination, which is one step before a full-blown probe, zeroes in on allegations the government has been involved in illegal killings as part of the crackdown Duterte launched in mid-2016.

Police say they have killed 5,176 users or pushers who resisted arrest, but rights groups say the actual number of dead is at least triple that number.

Critics have alleged the crackdown amounts to a war on the poor that feeds an undercurrent of impunity and lawlessness in the nation of 106 million.

The Philippines' move to exit follows a string of setbacks for the ICC, including the January acquittal of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo and the June 2018 not guilty verdict for former DR Congo vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Burundi in 2017 became the first ever nation to leave the court, which was founded in 2002.

In a wave of unprecedented defections, other African nations—Zambia, South Africa, Kenya and Gambia—have also made moves to quit or expressed interest in withdrawing as they accused the court of being biased against Africans.

However, earlier in March the court got a boost when Malaysia officially joined, making it one of just a handful of Asian members. —Agence France-Presse