Rights group: Refusal to re-join ICC 'further victimizes' drug war victims, kin

This photo taken on June 27, 2019, shows policemen at the crime scene where the body of a barangay (inner city neighbourhood) health worker and former drug surrenderee Michael Oescayno, lies on the ground after unidentified gunmen shot him.

AFP / Noel Celis

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s refusal to rejoin the International Criminal Court "further victimizes" those executed in the Duterte administration's wars on drugs, on dissent, and on the Moro people, a global rights network said Thursday. 

In a statement sent to reporters Thursday evening, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines called the president's statement an "ominous sign for human rights," saying the only rationale for not being under its jurisdiction is "to shelter perpetrators from prosecution and the intention to continue committing such crimes."

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines [ICHRP] is extremely disappointed but not surprised by the new Marcos administration’s decision to keep the Philippines outside the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court [ICC],” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy Thursday.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/08/04/2200272/rights-group-refusal-re-join-icc-further-victimizes-drug-war-victims-kin