In withdrawing from the court last year, Mr. Duterte said that the Philippine government had enough mechanisms in place to ensure that the justice system functioned properly. He also insulted the court and threatened to arrest Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer and the court’s chief prosecutor, if she entered the Philippines. The court has been conducting a preliminary inquiry into accusations that Mr. Duterte and other Philippine officials committed mass murder and crimes against humanity in the course of the drug crackdown. A second complaint was filed last August by relatives of eight people killed by police officers in the drug war; they also accused Mr. Duterte of murder. In their Supreme Court motion, the rights activists said that withdrawing from the court would deprive Filipinos of “effective remedies” against genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Source: New York Times March 17, 2019 09:22 UTC