A coordinator of Rise Up for Life and for Rights, a group of church workers and families of victims of extrajudicial killings in the “drug war,” expressed support for the recommendation of UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan for the Philippines to return to the International Criminal Court.
United Methodist Church deaconess Rubilyn Litao, coordinator of the said group, said that the failure of domestic redress mechanisms especially during the Duterte administration shows the need for recourse of victims at the international level. “The case at the ICC against former President Duterte and his co-conspirators is proof that the justice system in the Philippines has failed in rendering justice for the thousands of victims, a fact acknowledged by the local officials,” she said.
“The return to the ICC is the next logical immediate step,” she added.
Litao added that extrajudicial killings continue under the Marcos Jr. administration. According to Dahas, there are 1,000 victims of drug-related killings since June 2022.
The group likewise reiterated opposition to Duterte’s motion for interim release, saying this is a litmus test for the ICC’s efficacy as an accountability mechanism.
Meanwhile, abduction survivor and environmental activist Jonila Castro said that the Philippines’ ratification of the International Convention on Enforced Disappearance is a long overdue act that should push for the eradication and criminalisation of enforced disappearances.
“As the Philippines holds out on the convention’s ratification, it likewise continues to renege on its obligations under international human rights law through the increasing number of enforced disappearances under the Marcos administration. Victims who survived abductions also remain skeptical of the domestic law on enforced disappearances because it has not effectively deterred such violations,” Castro, who is the spokesperson of Kalikasan and Karapatan National Council member, said.
Karapatan data showed that there are 18 victims of enforced disappearances who remain missing under the Marcos Jr. administration. Karapatan also documented 30 survivors of abduction during the same period.
In her report on her official visit to the Philippines, Khan called on the Marcos administration to ratify the said convention and to open discussions for re-accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Litao and Castro are members of the delegation of Philippine UPR Watch, a network of faith-based and human rights organizations, participating in the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, where Khan delivered her report.