Press Release
June 15, 2021

Dispatch from Crame No. 1075:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the OTP-ICC Decision to Proceed with the Investigation of the Murders Committed in Duterte's Drug War

6/15/21

I most gladly welcome the decision of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the Honorable Fatou Bensouda, to proceed with the investigation of the drug war killings as a possible case of the "Crime Against Humanity of Murder" under the Rome Statute.

The days of Rodrigo Roa Duterte are coming to an end. The only question now is whether his own death will come as a boon and save him from the trial and judgment of the ICC for his crimes against humanity. He might actually be entertaining that notion now, better to die first than to suffer the humiliation of being dragged in chains to The Hague as one of the few individuals in history to be tried as hostis humani generis, an enemy of mankind.

But that would be unfair to the thousands of poor Filipinos Duterte had ordered to be murdered in his fake drug war. It would be an injustice for him to escape his coming trial and conviction by the grace of an early departure from this world. No, that should not happen. Let us all pray for Duterte's long life and good health, so that he may go through the ICC trial that would follow his arrest after the start of the investigation of the Office of the Prosecutor.

All power, no matter how absolute, is always fleeting. Only justice is permanent. Let it be done though the heavens fall. ###

(Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 1075 here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_1075)

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