Since 2016, @UN_SPExperts colleagues and I have repeatedly denounced severe human rights violations in the #Philippines, including thousands of arbitrary killings in the context of the "war on drug." We have issued 42 communications to the authorities: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TmSearch/Results

On 25 June 2020, 31 @UN_SPExperts issued a joint statement calling for an international investigation into the human rights situation in the Philippines and for the ICC to expedite its preliminary examination of the situation in the Philippines https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25999&LangID=E

In Dec 2020, the ICC found that information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity of murder, torture and serious physical injury and mental harm were committed in the #Philippines https://www.icc-cpi.int/itemsDocuments/2020-PE/2020-pe-report-eng.pdf Such findings sadly reflect ours

The #ICC Office of the Prosecutor anticipates deciding whether to seek authorisation to open an investigation into the situation in the Philippines in the first half of 2021.

The call I joined in June 2020 with 30 other @UN_SPExperts remains as legitimate now as it was then: The human rights situation in the Philippines has reached a level of gravity requiring a robust intervention by the UN, the Int'l community, the ICC.

Since then though the ICC has become a main/only source of hope for justice to be delivered, as long as the national judicial system is unable and unwilling to truly investigate and prosecute those responsible for the 1000s of killings, including the chain of command.

Indeed, in Sept 2020, the HRC adopted a resolution on technical cooperation/capacity-building for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. This made a mockery of the OHCHR and our own findings and a slap in the face of the courageous Ph defenders

Since then, allegations of extrajudicial executions have continued unabated. The President continues to urge police officers to shoot first, worry about human rights later. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/12/03/2061268/i-dont-care-about-human-rights-duterte-says-urging-cops-shoot-first Official human rights initiatives ring hollow in this context. The ICC must proceed