The lawyers of drug war victims fired back at former president Rodrigo Duterte’s lead legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, after he made assertions related to the supposed restriction on the identification process of the witnesses who will stand against the ex-leader in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Kaufman accused human rights lawyers Joel Butuyan and Kristina Conti, both accredited by the ICC, of spouting lies in the press about the defense’s supposed petition to the court to impose stricter rules on how the victims of the bloody drug war can participate in the trial by limiting acceptable identification cards to just passports and National ID.

Kaufman asserted that it was a mere observation or a response made by the defense to the Victims Participation and Reparations Sector (VPRS), and therefore, not a formal request that the court denied.

Besides, Kaufman alleged that Conti and Butuyan had not yet been accepted by the ICC as legal representatives for the drug victims, as they are currently represented by the Office of Public Counsel for Victims.

Conti, however, challenged Kaufman to produce a copy of the interview in which she supposedly uttered such assertions. She contended that she only welcomed the ICC’s decision to reinstate the proposal of the VPRS, but never claimed that there was a denial of the defense’s pleadings.

But for Butuyan, the fact that Kaufman requested stricter ID rules already constitutes an attempt to reduce the number of victims who could participate in the proceedings.

“He claims it’s just an observation, but it’s the same thing. He's actually opposing the submission of the VPRS to expand the IDs that can be accepted at the ICC,” Butuyan said in an interview.

The VPRS is a unit in the ICC that is responsible for administering the victims’ application process, including reparations, which can only be awarded after a defendant has been convicted or found guilty of the crime charged.

Unlike in the Philippines, where parties can file motions to convince a court, parties in the ICC only file observations and oppositions.

“Atty. Kaufman submitted his observations regarding the VPRS suggestions. This is the Victims Participation and Reparations Section, which he said should be limited to only three kinds of IDs — the national ID, the passport, and the SSS (Social Security System),” he averred.

Earlier this month, Kaufman requested the ICC to limit acceptable IDs of participating victims to just passports and National IDs. If both are unavailable, then they shall submit IDs in the “staggered fashion mandated by the SSS.”

The British-Israeli lawyer asserted that a “more stringent approach” could prevent misidentification, double-counting, and the inclusion of false victims, which may lead to unnecessary and time-consuming litigation.

Kaufman’s proposal, however, drew sharp criticism from the lawyers of drug war victims. They said the ID limitation was not only discriminatory but also detached from the realities of the victims’ socioeconomic status.

In a document released by the ICC dated 17 April, the court favored the Registry, which suggested that government-issued IDs shall be allowed as proof of identity for the victims.

This includes birth certificates, senior-citizen and PWD cards, barangay certificates, driver’s licenses, NBI clearances, SSS and GSIS IDs, passports, and National IDs, among others.

Butuyan lamented that it is unjust to impose a stringent identification process for the kin of the drug war victims, who were denied the opportunity to be tried in court.

Butuyan also accused Kaufman of “fake news” for insinuating that they should never give comments on matters pertaining to the ICC.

“What he's implying is that you need to be appointed by the ICC as a victims' counsel before you can comment on what's happening at the ICC. That's fake news. It's a big fake news because anyone can express his or her views on what's happening at the ICC,” he stressed.

Butuyan, president of the Center for International, is one of the five Filipino lawyers accredited by the ICC. Conti is also registered with the ICC as an assistant to counsel.

Duterte remains in ICC custody while awaiting the confirmation of his charges scheduled for 23 September. His lead legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, earlier disclosed that the application for his temporary release is already in the works — a move that lawyers of the drug war victims have warned they will strongly oppose.

Duterte has been under the ICC’s custody since his arrest on 11 March in Manila over allegations of crimes against humanity in connection with the extrajudicial killings committed between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019, spanning his time as mayor of Davao City and his presidency.

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.