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Doctor of Juridical Science candidate Perfecto Caparas, LL.M. '05, joined calls for International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open a preliminary examination and preliminary investigation into “the ongoing bloodbath in the Philippines.” Caparas made the calls during an NGO side meeting to the 16^th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court held at the United Nations New York Headquarters on December 7, 2017.

Caparas, who lived in the Philippines and worked as a police reporter while attending law school there, said that what President Rodrigo Duterte “has been doing is to condone, and to continue expressing his tacit approval of the widespread and systematic murder of thousands of civilians all over the country.”

“Based on the principle of complementarity, the ICC Prosecutor is duty-bound to uphold the rule of international human rights law given the lack of investigation by Philippine authorities into the culpability of President Duterte and top police officials for the multiple commission of acts of murder directed against the civilian population pursuant to the government’s tacit policy to kill, as articulated by no less than President Duterte himself,” Caparas continued.

Despite this, however, Caparas pointed out that the situation “serves as a historic opportunity to show the power of the people, in cooperation with the church, civil society organizations and NGOs, to serve as a counterforce against tyranny.”

“Courageous lawyers from the Free Legal Assistance Group and CenterLaw, like Attorney Gil Anthony Aquino, are at the forefront asserting the rule of international human rights law despite great risks to themselves. Together with the people, these human rights lawyers are building a critical mass of resistance against Duterte’s blatant attacks against the rule of law,” he declared.

Caparas is Associate Director of Graduate Programs at IU McKinney.