MANILA — ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan can now request the International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber to issue warrants of arrest or summons in relation the investigation into the bloody war on drugs and alleged Davao Death Squad killings under former President Rodrigo Duterte, a lawyer said Wednesday.

The ICC launched a formal inquiry in September 2021, only to suspend it two months later after the Philippines said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths at the hands of police, hitmen and vigilantes.

Khan later asked to reopen the inquiry in June 2022, and pre-trial judges at the court gave the green light in late January — a decision which Manila appealed shortly afterwards.

Atty. Ruben Carranza, a senior expert at the New York-based International Center for Transitional Justice, said that the issuance of arrest warrants or summons can now take place after the ICC Appeals Chamber rejected the Philippine government’s appeal and allowed the investigations to proceed.

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"At this stage, the prosecutor can actually already decide who he might charge with crimes against humanity, which is what the original request to be allowed to investigate what's meant to do,” Carranza told ANC’s “Headstart.”

“And once he decides who he wants to charge for crimes against humanity… the prosecutor can then also ask the Pre-Trial Chamber to ensure either warrants of arrest… Or if he feels that these persons can or are willing to appear at the ICC even without being arrested, he can ask the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue summons,” he said.

However, Carranza said that it was uncertain that these were the steps the ICC Prosecutor would do immediately.

No individuals have so far been named to be the specific targets of the ICC Prosecutor’s inquiry although the names of Duterte and former Philippine National Police chief and incumbent Sen. Ronald dela Rosa — the chief implementer of the war on drugs — were frequently mentioned.

Carranza urged relatives of war on drugs victims to manage their expectations because “it is still very possible that those who are the subjects of the warrants of arrest or summons will not appear at the ICC.”

“It's very clear that the Philippine government under Marcos Jr. has decided that they will not cooperate with ICC. They insist that the ICC no longer has jurisdiction over the drug war killings, because of the withdrawal of the Philippines, although the upper chamber already rejected that argument,” he added.

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At least 6,181 people have been killed in more than 200,000 anti-drug operations carried out, according to the latest official data released by the Philippines.

ICC prosecutors estimate the death toll at between 12,000 and 30,000.

—with a report from Agence France-Presse