Ex-govt officials sue China’s Xi before ICC

Credit to Author: DEMPSEY REYES| Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2019 16:21:24 +0000

TWO former government officials have accused before the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Beijing officials of implementing a “systematic plan to control” the contested South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) and violating the rights of Filipino fishers.

Former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario and former ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, in their “communication” dated March 15, accused Xi and other
Chinese officials of “committing crimes within the jurisdiction” of the ICC.

Former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario and former ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales

The communication to ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda was filed two days before the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, took effect.

Del Rosario and Carpio-Morales explained how China’s plan to control the disputed waters constituted “crimes against humanity” within the court’s jurisdiction. The two officials said they wrote on behalf of the fishermen “persecuted and injured” by officials of China.

“The situation presented is both unique and relevant in that it presents one of the most massive, near permanent and devastating destruction of the environment in humanity’s history, which has not only adversely affected and injured myriad groups of vulnerable fishermen, but present and future generations of people across nations,” they said.

Such acts “seriously undermined” food and energy security of the coastal nations in the South China Sea, including the Philippines, they claimed.

“We believe that the grave consequences of these actions justify the Honorable Court’s involvement as it affirms one of the principles of the Rome Statute that ‘the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished and their effective prosecution must be ensured,’” the communication added.

Del Rosario and Carpio-Morales stressed that the crimes allegedly committed by the Chinese officials “fall within” the ICC’s jurisdiction.

“We urge you to initiate preliminary examination on this matter, if only so the Court can apprise itself of Chinese crimes committed not only against the Filipino people, but also against people of other nations, which crimes are already known to the international community,” they said.

“Though widely publicized, these atrociously inhumane actions of Chinese officials in the South China Sea and within Philippine territory remain unpunished, and it is only the ICC that can exact accountability on behalf of Filipinos and the international community, respecting the rule of law,” they added.

China, however, is not a state party to the Rome Statute.

On March 17, Manila formally withdrew from the Rome Statute amid an ICC investigation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war against illegal drugs.
Manila and Beijing had been at odds over the South China Sea, until Duterte assumed office in 2016 and decided to prioritize economic ties.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, The Netherlands ruled that China has no legal basis to claim sovereign rights over most features of the busy waterway, said to be rich in mineral resources.

China has refused to recognize the Hague-based tribunal’s decision, and continues to undertake expansion activities in the disputed waters.

Duterte, who prefers closer ties with Beijing, had said he would invoke the arbitral court’s ruling at some point in the future.

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