President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday urged other nations to follow his move to quit the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is examining his deadly drug war. Duterte, 72, won elections in mid-2016 vowing to launch an unprecedented drug war in which tens of thousands of people would die. The ICC, which opened in 2002, is the world’s only permanent war crimes court and aims to prosecute the worst abuses when national courts are unable or unwilling. Officially quitting the court requires a year’s notice and does not stop the ICC from continuing its examination of the killings. However, Duterte on Sunday insisted the ICC could not prosecute him since the treaty was not published locally, in violation of domestic laws.

Source: Manila Times March 18, 2018 16:52 UTC