Roque, Panelo accuse ICC prosecutor of ‘political propaganda’ through drug war inquiry

Two of President Rodrigo Duterte’s aides on Wednesday accused International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of engaging in “political propaganda” through her office’s examination into the Philippines’ war on drugs.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo slammed Bensouda after she reported that there is a "reasonable basis" to believe that crimes against humanity were committed in the anti-narcotics campaign between July 1, 2016 and March 16, 2019.

“Alam ninyo sa totoo lang po, talagang namumulitika lang itong si Bensouda,” Roque said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.  “Hindi naman tayo papayag na tayo ay gagawing instrumento para sa kaniyang pamumulitika.”

Bensouda’s office will decide whether to seek authorization from the court to open an investigation into the drug war within the first half of 2021.

“With no authority to proceed, it becomes clearly evident that what Ms. Bensouda and her office are doing is playing politics in an attempt to besmirch the reputation and popularity of President Duterte,” Panelo said.

Panelo likened Bensouda’s action to the “practices of other lowly vulnerable and biased international rights groups which accept unthinkingly and without basis the lies peddled by the dyed in the wool opposition detractors.”

“The Philippine Government does not sponsor any unlawful act that may result in any killing or violent activity. Nor does it allow any widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population,” he said.

“Our administrative authorities are able and willing to prosecute — as they have prosecuted — any alleged crime against humanity in our jurisdiction. So is our judicial system robust enough to conduct criminal proceedings brought before the courts of justice.”

He added: "The report, or more appropriately, a political propaganda against President Duterte, is not only irrelevant to the Philippines but immaterial as well to the affairs of the country's government."

Panelo maintained that the ICC no longer had the authority to investigate the Philippines after the country withdrew from The Hague-based tribunal in March last year.

Bensouda, however, said the court retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes that have occurred on Philippine territory during the period when it was a state party to the Rome Statute, a treaty that created the ICC, from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.

She also said the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction is “not subject to any time limit.”

Bensouda started a preliminary examination into the anti-narcotics campaign, which has claimed the lives of thousands of drug suspects, in February 2018.—AOL, GMA News