Dela Rosa ICC case stalled until arrest

The crimes against humanity case against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa before the International Criminal Court (ICC) will not advance while he remains at large, even as proceedings against his alleged co-perpetrator, former President Rodrigo Duterte, are nearing the trial phase, counsel for the drug war victims said Tuesday.

Dela Rosa and Duterte face similar charges over the alleged systematic killings tied to the deadly anti-drug campaign initially waged in Davao City during the latter’s decades-long tenure as mayor, before being implemented on a national scale in 2016 after he was elected to the highest office.

Lawyer Kristina Conti explained that because ICC proceedings require an accused to be surrendered to the Hague-based court before a case advances to pre-trial and, subsequently, trial, actual proceedings against Dela Rosa cannot simply proceed either, as he remains a fugitive.

“If Bato is not caught, no case will be opened against [him]. Here, [in ICC] it’s sacred. The accused should be able to confront the witnesses, the accusers. That’s the standard of due process. The case cannot be opened in absentia (in the absence of the accused),” she said in a radio interview partly in Filipino.

However, while unlikely, the possibility remains, as the ICC set a precedent on 9 September last year when it opened a confirmation of charges hearing despite the accused being at large.

The case involves Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, who has eluded arrest for 25 years since the ICC issued the warrant in 2005.

Barely two months after opening the confirmation hearing, the ICC confirmed 39 charges related to war crimes and crimes against humanity against Kony, committing him to a full-blown trial.

Kony was the commander-in-chief of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group accused of rape, torture, and abduction of children and women, and forcibly recruiting them into the group against the Ugandan government between 2002 and 2005.

Although the charges are already confirmed, a formal trial cannot proceed until Kony is captured and brought before the ICC. He remains the ICC’s longest-standing fugitive.

The ICC issued the warrant against Dela Rosa in secret on 6 November last year and unsealed it only on 11 May — the same day the senator briefly resurfaced to stage a Senate coup after six months of hiding.

Because the ICC lacks its own police force to enforce arrest warrants, Conti said the tribunal leaves the responsibility entirely to the Philippine government, though the court still closely monitors developments.

Authorities have launched an intensified manhunt against the senator, offering a P50-million bounty for information leading to his arrest.

Last week, Dela Rosa’s camp renewed its petition to the Supreme Court to grant the former PNP chief protection and block the ICC arrest by reversing its May decision denying him a temporary restraining order.

Conti maintained that the SC is not the proper venue to question the ICC’s jurisdiction. She asserted that Philippine courts can only rule within their own regulatory framework and would likely direct Dela Rosa to challenge the ICC’s authority directly with the ICC.

Furthermore, she argued that any violation of Philippine law regarding an arrest could be discussed only after an arrest has actually occurred.

“But for now, if he asks if the ICC has jurisdiction over me, you go to the ICC,” she stressed.

The ICC has asserted that it still retains jurisdiction over crimes against humanity committed under Duterte’s watch before the Philippines withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2018, which only took effect in 2019.

The ICC named Dela Rosa as an “indirect co-perpetrator” for the crime against humanity of murder, being Duterte’s then chief of police who spearheaded the deadly anti-drug operations that saw 30,000 killed based on the government’s data.