Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David on Thursday, 24 September, expressed concern over calls by United States President Donald Trump for countries to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The cardinal said Trump’s statements during his recent speech before the United Nations place the future of international justice in doubt.

“The deeper question is whether the international community can sustain a system of justice in which the same standards apply to the powerful and the powerless alike,” he said.

The prelate noted that the ICC is not an organ of the United Nations (UN) but “an independent international court established under the Rome Statute to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.”

“Its mandate is to help ensure that even those who wield the highest political and military authority can be held accountable for serious international crimes,” he said.

During Trump’s speech, the cardinal recounted that the US president called the ICC an anti-American tribunal and said he would not allow US servicemen to be investigated by the international court.

“Whatever our political sympathies, the fundamental question is this: Should any head of state, president, or military commander be beyond accountability for the exercise of power, especially when that power involves decisions over human life and death?” asked David.

David said former President Rodrigo Duterte is already detained in The Hague as he faces crimes against humanity cases before the ICC over alleged extrajudicial killings committed during his drug war.

“The ICC proceedings against former President Duterte, whose trial is scheduled to begin on November 30, bring this question very close to home. He is entitled to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial. The same principle of accountability, however, raises questions about the actions of leaders everywhere, including those of the most powerful nations,” he said.

Since the US was central to the founding of the UN, David found Trump’s statements “to abandon an international institution established to address some of the gravest crimes against humanity” ironic.