International Criminal Court: Investigate Duterte for Crimes Against Humanity

Nais ko lamang i-share sa inyo ang isang Facebook page na shinare ni Theophilus Batongbacal sa Facebook Group na Pinas Bago Partido kung saan kumakalat ang isang petition na inumpisahan ni N Vidal San Francisco, CA kung saan nais nilang maipadala sa international criminal court. Kayo mga dear readers ang mag husga kung dapat ba na suportahan ang nasabing petition.

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Theophilus Batongbacal sa Pinas Bago Partido: You can do something to stop the massacre of civilians and the carnage of our brothers and sisters in the slums who are the target of this genocide (see picture).

This petition was started by N.Vidal of San Francisco back in September and needs just another 289 signatures for it to be submitted by change.org to the International Criminal Court.

Your participation is therefore very much requested on behalf of the EJK victims, their bereaved families and the rest of the Filipinos.

Please pass it on.

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International Criminal Court: Investigate Duterte for Crimes Against Humanity

“This campaign (of) shoot-to-kill will remain until the last day of my term if I’m still alive by then.”
“I don’t care about human rights, believe me.”

“If a suspect draws out a gun, kill him. If he doesn’t, kill him anyway.”

These are words coming from Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. Since being in office for 85 days, the estimated body count has already risen to over 1400 killed by police, with another 1900 killed by vigilantes encouraged by Duterte’s shoot-to-kill policy. Prisons are overcrowded with people turning themselves in for fear of getting killed. Duterte has waged a war on drugs with blatant disregard for people’s lives and human rights. Police and vigilantes are carrying out his orders and willfully ignoring people’s right to due process and a fair trial. Duterte is encouraging both police and civilians to kill anyone suspected of drug dealing or even drug use, resulting in the deaths of many people including those who were wrongfully accused, children, and innocent bystanders.

Since the Philippines is a signatory party to the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, or crimes of aggression committed within its territory. We are urging the International Criminal Court to investigate Duterte for his crimes against humanity, particularly for ordering and encouraging extrajudicial killings and summary executions while he was mayor of Davao City and now while serving as the president of the Philippines. The Philippine Senate has started an inquiry into these extrajudicial killings, but it is unable to conduct an effective and impartial investigation, with its members engaging in ad hominem attacks against each other and Senator Leila De Lima, who is a staunch Duterte critic, being ousted from her role as the head of the Senate’s justice committee and who is now fearing for her life. De Lima’s replacement, Senator Richard Gordon, is a Duterte supporter who has called for granting Duterte emergency powers to allow police and the military to make arrests without a warrant. The majority of the senators in the justice committee are supporters of the president himself, and this does not promise an unbiased look into the current situation the country is facing. Moreover, Duterte has threatened to declare martial law if the Philippine judiciary interferes with his war on drugs. The people of the Philippines deserve justice and for their right to life, liberty and security of person to be restored and not threatened. As an impartial body, we urge the International Criminal Court to investigate these killings and prosecute if necessary.

This petition will be delivered to:
•International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor

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ANG LAMAN NG PETITION:

Letter to: International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor

We urge the International Criminal Court to investigate Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity. Duterte has waged a War on Drugs that has resulted in an estimated 3,000 people killed by police and vigilantes in the 85 days since he has taken office. He has stated that he does not care about human rights, and he has encouraged security forces and civilians to kill anyone suspected of drug dealing or even drug use. People’s right to due process and a fair trial are willfully ignored, and people are accused of being involved in the drug trade with no proof or investigation.
The Philippine Senate has started an inquiry into these extrajudicial killings and summary executions that have started back when Duterte was mayor of Davao City and which has now spread across the Philippines since he became president. However, Senator Leila De Lima, who is a Duterte critic, has been ousted from being the head of the justice committee leading the investigation and has been replaced by Senator Richard Gordon, who is a Duterte supporter and who has called for granting Duterte emergency powers to be able to allow arrests without a warrant. This committee is not proving to be capable of conducting an an effective and impartial investigation. Duterte has also threatened to declare Martial Law if the Philippine judiciary interferes.
The people of the Philippines deserve to have their right to life, liberty and security of person protected. Since the Philippines has acceded to the Rome Statute, we are urging the International Criminal Court to use its jurisdiction and investigate Duterte and these killings and to prosecute if necessary.

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