Philippines Leaves International Criminal Court Due to Differences

Philippines has left the International Criminal Court (ICC) because the tribunal supposedly 'weaponized' human rights against the country's drug war. The ICC had launched a preliminary examination in 2018 into President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on drugs which killed thousands and drew international outcry.

Duterte made the decision to leave the tribunal came when the Supreme Court of the Philippines declined to grant an injunction requested by a group of human rights activists. The activists say that more than 10,000 people have been killed in police encounters.

The president's decision is nothing new as he had notified the United Nations Secretary-General to do so in 2018. "The government affirms its commitment to fight against impunity for atrocity crimes, notwithstanding its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, especially since the Philippines has national legislation punishing atrocity crimes," the government had said in a letter addressed to the UN in 2018.

Meanwhile, the Amnesty International said the withdrawal should prompt the UN Human Rights Council to probe the killings. Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International regional director said Filipinos need international support to help them end the climate of fear, violence and impunity. Philippines argues its withdrawal from ICC saying that it had never joined the treaty that underpins the court becoming a state party to the Rome Statute which created the ICC.