ICC to open preliminary probes in Philippines, Venezuela
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced Thursday that she is opening preliminary probes into alleged crimes by police and security forces in the Philippines and Venezuela.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said that the probe on Venezuela will look at allegations that since April 2017 government forces “frequently used excessive force to disperse and put down demonstrations,” and abused some opposition members in detention.
The Philippines probe will focus on allegations since July 2016 that thousands of people have been killed in the government’s war on drugs.
“While some of such killings have reportedly occurred in the context of clashes between or within gangs, it is alleged that many of the reported incidents involved extra-judicial killings in the course of police anti-drug operations,” Bensouda said.