ICC probe victim ID controversy was addressed by Atty. Nicholas Kaufman, lead counsel for former President Rodrigo Duterte, as he strongly denied allegations that their camp requested limitations on the identification documents accepted for victims participating in the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the Philippine drug war.
Kaufman labeled as “a lie” the claims made by human rights lawyers Joel Butuyan and Kristina Conti, who said the ICC rejected a supposed request to limit accepted IDs to national IDs or passports.
He clarified that what they submitted were merely observations based on Social Security System (SSS) requirements in the Philippines, not a formal request to ICC judges.
“That’s all we did, we made observations. We didn’t make a request which was rejected. That’s a big lie,” Kaufman said.
Meanwhile, Conti and Butuyan stated that the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I upheld its decision not to limit acceptable identification to national IDs or passports, noting that many victims are impoverished and lack such documents.
The court’s stance was part of a 20-page ruling released on April 17, which allows the use of other government-issued IDs in verifying the identities of drug war victims.