THE HAGUE – Binanggit ni International Criminal Court (ICC) Senior Trial Lawyer Julian Nicholls nitong Lunes, Pebrero 23 ang pangalan nina Senador Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa at Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go na ilan sa mga kabilang sa co-perpetrators ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa mga pagpatay sa kanyang termino bilang alkalde ng Davao City.
Sa confirmation of charges hearing ni Duterte, ipinresenta ni Nicholls na si Dela Rosa ay nagsilbing Davao City Police Office chief habang si Go ay naging aide, special assistant at important adviser ni Duterte.
Binanggit din sa hearing si dating Davao City police chief Vicente Danao, dating National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Davao Regional Director Dante Gierran, at Atty. Vitaliano Aguirre II.
Sa Document Containing the Charges (DCC) na ipinasa ng prosekusyon at inilabas ng ICC ngayong buwan, sina Go, dela Rosa, Danao, Gierran, at Aguirre ay kabilang sa napangalanang co-perpetrators sa “common plan to neutralize alleged criminals” sa pamamagitan ng “violent crimes including murder.”
Ang iba pang co-perpetrators sa dokumento ay sina Oscar Albayalde at Isidro Lapeña.
“As mayor of Davao, Mr. Duterte promised a crackdown on crime. To ‘crackdown’ on crimes and drugs, Mr. Duterte created liquidation squads, death squads made up of Davao City officers as well as non-police officers who were essentially hired hitmen.”
Sinabi ni Nicholls na ito ay nakilala bilang Davao model ni Duterte.
“And you have to think, it’s a little strange, cracking down on crime by committing the crime of murder,” aniya.
Hind rin pinag-usapan ni Duterte ang mga krimen na ito nang mag-isa.
“Of course, Mr. Duterte did not commit these crimes alone. We discuss the perpetrators, including during the mayoral period,” sinabi ni Nicholls.
Ayon kay Nicholls, ang DDSW structure sa mayoral period ni Duterte ay “hierarchal, pyramid-like” structure kung saan si Duterte ang nasa pinakatuktok.
“As mayor, he had, of course, the control over the Davao Police… he also had de-facto control.”
“The co-perpetrators had different roles but one of them was to relay orders and instructions down to Mr. Duterte to the DDS handlers and also to relay reports back to Mr. Duterte,” pagpapatuloy pa nito.
Sunod naman aniya rito ay ang “DDS Handlers” at pinakamababa sa ranggo ang mga DDS member na binubuo ng police officers o non-police hitmen, na siyang pumapatay.
“These members at the bottom were often recruited because they had a debt or owed something to Mr. Duterte or the police. Therefore, they could be controlled,” sinabi pa nito.
“And those members at the very bottom were at risk themselves. Because if they did not follow orders or if they tried to leave the DDS. They could be tortured or killed or both,” dagdag niya.
Sa kabila nito, sinabi naman ng legal counsel ni Duterte na si Nicholas Kaufman na ang mga speech ni Duterte ay naglalaman ng “exonerating evidence” na ang paggamit ng pwersa ay para lamang sa self-defense.
“To our police officers and other officials, do your job and you will have the unwavering support of the Office of the President. I will be with you all the way. Abuse your authority, and there will be a hell to pay, for you will have become worse than criminality itself,” nauna nang sinabi ni Kaufman sa speech nito sa confirmation of charges hearing.
“It’s not enough to state that since the former President made those extremely inflammatory statements and deaths occurred, that he must be criminally responsible for those fatalities,” ayon pa kay Kaufman.
“At this stage of the proceedings, the prosecution must show substantial grounds that the former President actually desired and foresaw that people would be killed as a result of his incendiary language,” dagdag nito.
Si Duterte ay sinampahan ng ICC Office of the Prosecutor ng three counts of crimes against humanity (murder at attempted murder) sa kanyang implementasyon ng anti-drug campaign.
Ang susunod na pagdinig ay itinakda sa Pebrero 24, 26, at 27.
Sa rekord ng pamahalaan, nasa 6,200 drug suspects ang napatay sa anti-drug operations ng Duterte administration ngunit sinabi ng human rights organization na posibleng aabot pa sa 30,000 ang mga napatay dahil sa unreported related killings. RNT/JGC
