Duterte camp loses bid to appeal ICC confirmation of charges

MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has junked the bid of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s camp to appeal the tribunal’s confirmation of the crimes against humanity of murder charges filed against him over his bloody war on drugs.

In a 12-page decision issued by ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, the judges unanimously denied the request for leave to appeal filed by Duterte’s defense team.

The ruling was signed by Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera.

Duterte’s lead defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman earlier argued that the chamber committed errors in confirming the charges against the former president.

The defense questioned what it described as an “impermissibly flexible approach to the formulation of the charges,” saying that it weakened Duterte’s right to be fully informed of the allegations against him.

It also argued that the chamber failed to sufficiently explain how its factual findings were supported by evidence and allegedly did not address key arguments raised by the defense, including the supposed absence of a common plan.

But the prosecution countered that the chamber merely defined the “parameters of the charges” consistent with ICC jurisprudence.

According to the chamber, the scope of the three confirmed counts had been clearly laid out, including the time periods, locations, perpetrators and categories of victims involved in the alleged crimes.

The tribunal also said the defense incorrectly merged two separate legal issues: the proper delineation of the charges and the accused’s right to be informed in detail of the accusations against him.

“In light of the above, the Chamber considers that the First Proposed Issue mischaracterises the Confirmation Decision as to the matter of the proper delineation of the charges,” the document read. 

The judges explained that the “flexible approach” cited by the defense only applied to the possibility that additional details may emerge during trial proceedings without going beyond the factual scope of the confirmed charges.

“The Prosecution asserts that, consistent with this jurisprudence, the Chamber ‘consider[ed] the scale of criminality and alleged mode of individual criminal responsibility in this case’ and ‘ruled that ‘a broad approach to the scope of the charges through illustrative examples of relevant incidents may indeed be necessary to cover the extent of Mr Duterte’s alleged criminality,’” the ruling read.

On the second issue raised by the defense, the chamber said confirmation proceedings are not equivalent to a full-blown trial and do not require an exhaustive examination of every piece of evidence on a per-incident basis.

“Such an approach would be inconsistent with the limited scope and purpose of confirmation proceedings, as explained in the Confirmation Decision and recalled above,” the tribunal said.

The chamber added that it had assessed all evidence submitted by both parties but referred only to materials necessary to explain the reasoning behind its conclusions.

“It submits that the Chamber explained its approach, consisting of assessing the evidence submitted by the Prosecution and the Defence, but referring only to those items of evidence it considered necessary to show the line of reasoning underpinning its conclusions, which is consistent with recent confirmation decisions and the purpose of the confirmation proceedings,” the document read.

The decision noted that the defense’s arguments regarding the second proposed issue mischaracterized the confirmation ruling and amounted only to a disagreement with how the chamber presented and assessed the evidence.

“For these reasons, the Chamber hereby rejects the Request,” the ruling read.

Last month, the ICC confirmed three counts of crimes against humanity of murder against Duterte in connection with killings linked to his anti-illegal drugs campaign during his tenure as Davao City mayor and later as president.

The charges cover alleged killings in Davao City from 2013 to June 2016, as well as nationwide anti-drug operations from July 2016 to September 2018 involving alleged “high-value targets” and barangay clearance operations.

The pre-trial chamber earlier said there were “substantial grounds to believe” that Duterte was criminally responsible for the alleged crimes, either as an indirect co-perpetrator or through ordering, inducing, aiding or abetting the killings.

Duterte remains under ICC custody while awaiting trial.