The defense team of former president Rodrigo Duterte has petitioned the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to impose “stringent” rules on the participation of drug war victims in the impending trial, particularly regarding their identification, which must be verified only through a national identity card or a passport with a recent photograph.

Duterte’s lead legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, asserted that limiting the types of identity documents accepted for the application of victims and those acting on their behalf “will enhance the reliability of the identity verification process and significantly reduce the risk of fraud.”

If both valid IDs are unavailable, Kaufman insisted that the chamber require IDs in the “staggered fashion” mandated by the Social Security System.

“The use of varied and insufficiently verified identity documents could lead to misidentification, double-counting, and the inclusion of false victims — issues that could trigger unnecessary and time-consuming litigation,” the Israeli-British lawyer said in a 7 April document submitted to the ICC.

“By adopting a more stringent approach from the outset, the Pre-Trial Chamber can avoid such pitfalls and streamline proceedings,” he added.

According to the document, the ICC Registry allowed the submission of government-issued IDs as identification documents for applicants, citing the backlog in the distribution of the National ID.

However, the defense team called the rationale “vague,” arguing that the non-sequential list “unjustifiably” expands the identification process.

‘Anti-poor’

ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti, one of the lawyers for extrajudicial killing victims, vowed to block Duterte’s defense team’s move, branding it a “clear” attempt to limit the victims’ participation in the trial.

She criticized it as “out of touch, unrealistic, and anti-poor,” saying that most of the indirect victims, or the relatives of drug war casualties, have no financial means to produce such requirements.

“This is an attempt to reduce the number of victims who wish to participate. That's why we just want to make it clear that even if there are only ten victims to participate, the case will continue. So, I think it's pointless to say and limit it further,” she said in an interview.

According to Conti, the indirect victims are those who will stand before the court judges as a “third party” during the trial, separate from the prosecution’s witnesses.

“If it's just a participating victim, they don’t need to prove the case, but they only need to be qualified as a victim and be able to state what their perspective is. So it's a bit different, but both are important to the ICC,” she explained. “Their appearance in court is for their own interest. They will be required to give their views and concerns.”

The prosecution had already furnished the chamber and Duterte’s defense with a set of evidence, totaling 181 items. Duterte’s camp has until 11 April to submit its counter-evidence.

In addition to the strict ID requirement proposal, Kaufman is also urging the ICC to allow only the Office of Public Counsel for Victims to represent the victims of the bloody drug war.

To avoid gaps in legal representation, the Registry had requested the chamber to allow the original lawyers of the victims to make submissions before the ICC until their common legal counsel is finalized.

However, Kaufman contended that allowing this would lead to “twice the number of submissions” before the ICC.

“It will be unwieldy, unnecessarily encumber the Defense, and slow down the proceedings. This will impact on Mr. Duterte’s right to a speedy judicial process,” Kaufman petitioned.

The 80-year-old Duterte is currently in ICC custody following his arrest on 11 March in Manila upon his return from Hong Kong. He faces charges of crimes against humanity for 43 extrajudicial killings under his drug war between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019, including those executed by the Davao Death Squad when he was Davao City mayor.

At present, Duterte faces a single charge, specifically murder. However, ICC-accredited lawyer Gilbert Andres has projected that this could be augmented if the prosecution presents an additional set of evidence when the confirmation of charges hearing begins on 23 September.

Earlier, Kaufman disclosed that the application for Duterte’s temporary release pending his trial is already in the works, a move that the lawyers of the drug war victims have warned they will strongly oppose.

The government logged only over 6,000 deaths. Rights groups, however, estimated that the actual death toll could reach as high as 30,000, affecting predominantly low-income families and communities.