Palace blames U.N. human rights chief for PH withdrawal from ICC

FILE: Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. ( YANCY LIM/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the remark of United Nations (UN) high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein against President Rodrigo Duterte was among the reasons that prompted the Chief Executive to withdraw the Philippines’ signature from the Rome Statute, a treaty that created the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Roque disclosed that the President vowed to face the ICC but when Zeid suggested that he needs to see a psychiatrist, Duterte was convinced that there must be some sort of “conspiracy” going on.

“With that statement, the President is convinced that there must be some kind of a conspiracy on the part of pressure groups and UN officials to shame him because prior to that statement of the Prince of Jordan, he says he has nothing to hide,” Roque said in a Palace press briefing on Thursday, March 15.

Apart from Zeid, the remarks of UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Agnes Callamard and the preliminary examination conducted by the ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda also caused the country’s withdrawal from the international body.

“Let me be clear, it’s not just the Prince, it’s also the UN and Agnes Callamard. As far as the President is concerned, there’s like a concerted effort on the part of lobby groups to influence UN officials to indict and convict the President in a court of public opinion,” the spokesman stressed.

“That’s what it is. It’s a concerted effort to convict him in a court of public opinion and he will not have anything to with that,” he added.

Roque “squarely” pointed his finger at Bensouda, saying that the prosecutor should have evaluated her decision to proceed with a more cautious preliminary examination as it may lead to an avalanche of withdrawal of other states from the court.

“Wrong political move, Madam Prosecutor. I am addressing you, wherever you are. You just gave countries confirmation on why they should not become a member of the ICC because you have shown that you can exercise your power without accountability. You are to blame if the ICC becomes a dustbin of history,” Roque said.

“Well, that’s [preliminary examination announcement] a fatal mistake. She should have weighed the policy implication of the Philippines withdrawing from the ICC from appeasing lobby groups. I put the blame squarely on the Prosecutor,” he added.

While acknowledging that the U.N. and the ICC are separate bodies, Roque claimed that there is a perception that the two entities are “allied” with each other.

Last December 2017, the Palace official had warned the ICC not to allow itself to be used for “political agenda” as it may cause the Philippines to drop its membership.

“He (Duterte) knew I spoke in New York upon his instruction to warn the ICC that politicizing the ICC will result in our decision to leave the court… So it’s just implementing a policy statement that we delivered in the U.N.,” he said.

Duterte, in a statement released to media on Wednesday, announced his decision to pull the Philippines out of the ICC effective immediately.

The Chief Executive said it was the “politicized” nature of the ICC that led him to arrive at that decision. He also cited that the criticisms made by UN officials like Zeid and Callamard as evidence of “international bias.”