Just like many Filipino lawyers, I am dismayed by the failure of the Philippine Government (which has not overcome its colonial mentality up to now) to ratify the 1998 Rome Statute which created the International Criminal Court (ICC). I wish to quote salient parts of a recent essay of former UP law dean Raul Pangalangan (Passion for Reason, Phil. Daly Inquirer, Oct. 3, 2008) on the matter, for legal research purpose of the visitors of this blog. Thus:
1. “Locally our track record in punishing grave human rights violations has been dismal, and even the isolated triumphs we hope for are mired in politics. The ICC, by focusing on individuals rather than political groups, “de-politicizes” the prosecution of offenders. It doesn’t evaluate the strategies of armed partisans but passes judgment only on the acts of evil men. We don’t ask whether a political group is fighting a “just war.” We ask merely whether the evildoers — of whatever flag or ideology — crossed the line and violated the law. Moreover, given our weak domestic institutions, we can thus defer to the jurisdiction of the ICC at The Hague to ensure the unemotional and unbiased prosecution of crimes”.
2. “While initially it was possible that American pressure kept us from signing, the situation has changed. For sure, both George W. Bush and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have done the same thing with the treaty: They sat on it. Both were sworn into office in January 2001, courtesy of their respective Supreme Courts. Both inherited an unratified treaty from their predecessors.
3. “But Bush pushed it two steps further. He actually “unsigned” the treaty (contrasted to Ms Arroyo’s unspoken snub) and then signed a new law, the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act (ASPA), that suspends US economic and military aid for any state that joins the ICC without first signing a “Bilateral Immunity Agreement” (or, for US critics, “impunity agreements”) that will prevent the ICC from prosecuting Americans”.
4. “I doubt if this remains a real factor today. First, we have already signed an immunity pact with the United States; we can no longer run afoul of the ASPA. Second, the ASPA exempts countries like us with whom the United States has a separate defense agreement (so why did we even sign the immunity agreement in the first place?). And third, even the United States itself has seen the folly of binding its hands with the ASPA. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has in fact said that its boycott of the ICC is “like shooting ourselves in the foot.” It antagonized US allies and allowed Russia and China to fill the gap that the United States has opened by default”.
5. “The Court came into being in 2002. It has been six years since, and the Court has considered various cases referred to it by the UN and by member states. Our fears should be calmed by the Court’s sober, professional and judicious use of its powers”.
