MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Thursday his government would not block the International Criminal Court (ICC) if former leader Rodrigo Duterte wants to be investigated for alleged crimes against humanity in his anti-drugs crackdown.
The Philippines will not cooperate with the ICC but it has obligations with Interpol, Marcos told reporters.
“If that’s the wish of (Duterte), we will not block ICC. We will not just cooperate,” Marcos said. “But if he agrees to be investigated, it is up to him.”
The remarks follow a marathon congressional hearing on Wednesday during which Duterte, president from 2016-2022, refused to apologize for his role in the bloodshed and urged the ICC to start its investigation
All testimony provided by Duterte will be assessed to see their legal consequences, Marcos said.
Duterte unilaterally withdrew the Philippine as a member of the ICC in 2019 after it announced it had started a preliminary examination into thousands of killings in his anti-narcotics campaign. He questioned its authority to conduct an investigation.
Under Duterte, police said they killed 6,200 suspected dealers who had resisted arrest during their anti-drug operations.
But human rights groups believe the real toll to be far greater, with thousands more users and peddlers gunned down in mysterious circumstances by unknown assailants.
Authorities at the time said those were vigilante killings and drugs gangs eliminating rivals. Rights groups and some victims accuse police of systematic cover-ups and executions, which they deny.
Philippines Marcos’ says will not block ICC if ex-president Duterte wants to be investigated
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Philippines Marcos’ says will not block ICC if ex-president Duterte wants to be investigated
- Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: ‘The Philippines will not cooperate with the ICC but it has obligations with Interpol’
- ’If that’s the wish of (Duterte), we will not block ICC. We will not just cooperate’
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
