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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in sights of the International Criminal Court
Sydney Morning Herald - October 14, 2016
The court's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she was "deeply concerned" about thousands of alleged killings in the Philippines and statements by "high officials" who "seem to condone such killings".
"Any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of mass violence including ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing, in any manner, to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the [court] is potentially liable to prosecution before the court," she said.
The Philippines is a member state of the court in The Hague, which has the authority to prosecute individuals for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Human rights lawyers say comments by Mr Duterte such as "all of you are into drugs, you sons of bitches... I will kill you" could be used as evidence to prosecute him.
Mr Duterte, who is known as the "Punisher" has also said: "My order is to shoot to kill. I don't care about human rights... this is a war against drugs and we have to fight it."
The acid-tongued 71-year-old former mayor of the southern city of Davao was swept into office at elections in May pledging that fish in Manila Bay would grow fat from the bodies of drugs dealers and criminals if he was elected.
Investigations by Fairfax Media and other organisations have revealed evidence of targeted assassinations on the country's streets, where an average of 36 people are being killed every day.
Mr Duterte has angrily hit back at those who have criticised his crackdown, including the United States, United Nations and European Union, claiming he has done nothing illegal and that law enforcers have been forced to shoot to kill after suspects put up fights.
He has branded US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" and UN chief Ban Ki-moon a "fool" over the criticism.
Ms Bensouda said in a statement her office would closely monitor developments in the Philippines in the coming weeks with a view to establishing whether she would open a preliminary investigation.
The court's prosecutors have the power to ask The Hague's judges to authorise an investigation that could lead to an eventual trial.
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