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Jose Rodel Clapano - The Philippine Star
April 2, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Rome Statute does not require a specific number of incidents of killings to prove crimes against humanity, former Bayan Muna congressman Neri Colmenares said yesterday.
Vice President Sara Duterte earlier claimed that her father’s crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) will fail without proof of 30,000 deaths.
“If she thinks that her father cannot be convicted because he only ordered the killing of less than 30,000 people, then she is dead wrong,” Colmenares said.
“We challenge VP Duterte and her lawyers to use this ‘less than 30,000 deaths’ argument in the confirmation hearing if they really believe that failure to prove 30,000 deaths is not a crime against humanity,” he added.
Colmenares explained that the complaint they filed listed 3,427 deaths as of July 31, 2018 since “this was the number of victims killed as officially admitted by the Philippine National Police.”
Former president Rodrigo Duterte, he said, later admitted that 6,252 people were killed in the drug war.
“Whose complaint or what pleading VP Duterte got her 30,000 (figure from) is surprising for us, since that was not the number in any of the pleadings we filed in the ICC,” Colmenares said.
As for the 43 cases mentioned by the prosecutor in his arrest warrant application, Colmenares said it “merely provided a representation of widespread attacks for the purpose of requesting the issuance of the warrant.”
“The charges he may file for the Sept. 23 confirmation hearing may not be even limited to 43 cases,” he noted.
Per Article 7 of the Rome Statute, crimes against humanity are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.
No specific number of deaths is required to prove the charges.
Colmenares recalled the convictions of Dominic Ongwen in 2021, Bosco Ntaganda in 2019 and Germain Katanga in 2014.
“The issue isn’t just about the exact number of dead – it’s about a president openly ordering killings, police acting with impunity and a justice system that failed victims,” he said.
“The ICC exists precisely because powerful figures like Duterte evade local accountability. Whether it’s 30 or 30,000, state-sponsored murder is a crime against humanity,” he maintained. — Evelyn Macairan
