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Philippines ex-President Rodrigo Duterte arrested on ICC warrant
The office of the President of the Philippines has reported the arrest of the country’s ex-President Rodrigo Duterte after receiving a request from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Duterte was taken into custody on Tuesday at Manila airport upon his arrival from Hong Kong, according to the Philippine government, which received the ICC request through the international police agency, Interpol.
“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant to the former president for the crime of crime against humanity,” the government said in a statement. “He’s now in the custody of authorities,” it said.
Duterte is facing allegations of “crimes against humanity” during a brutal anti-drugs drive while he was in office.
The former president’s so-called “war on drugs”, while he was in office from 2016-2022, deprived suspects of “due process under the law”, according to the arrest warrant, and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including children.
In a statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) described Duterte’s arrest as “a critical step for accountability in the Philippines”.
“His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and sends the clear message that no one is above the law. The Marcos government should swiftly surrender him to the ICC,” said Bryony Lau, HRW’s deputy Asia director.
Defending his actions amid reports of his possible arrest, Duterte had previously said that he “did everything…for the Filipino people”. “If it’s really my fate in life, that’s OK, I will accept it. There’s nothing I can do about it. If I’m arrested, if I’m jailed, so be it,” he had said.
Over the course of Duterte’s six-year presidency, more than 7,000 people were killed in official anti-drug operations, according to police records.
However, human rights advocates have claimed that the killings numbered over 30,000, including those who were killed by unknown suspects, some of whom later turned out to be police officers.
[Aljazeera]
Three newly appointed Court of Appeal Justices were formally sworn in before President Anura Kumara Disanayake today (11), at the Presidential Secretariat.
Accordingly, the appointments were conferred upon High Court Judges W.K.S.U. Premachandra, K. Priyantha Fernando and A. Premashankar.
Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake was also present at the occasion.
It has been noted that the provisions of the Industry Promotion Act No. 46 of 1990 existing at present are not sufficient to compile industry policies that enable fulfilling the contemporary requirements in the fields of technical, trade, skills, and environment in the industry sector. Therefore, approval has been granted to amend the said Act at the cabinet meeting held on 08-03-2021.
At present, the legal draftsman is in the process of amending the said Act, and the legal draftsman has shown the necessity of obtaining the policy consent of the present cabinet of ministers for the function of amending the Act.
Accordingly, taking into consideration the proposal presented by the Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to grant the policy consent for the expeditious completion of the function of preparation of the said draft.
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 11.01.2021 to amend the Tea Control Act No. 51 of 1957 including the following particulars:
• An introduction of a definition as “Reclaimable Tea” to the disposed portion of tea after categorizing at the process of production in tea factories.
• Naming the portion remaining as Refuse Tea after further extracting processed tea from the reclaimable tea.
• Registration of tea processors, issuance of licenses for them and administration of them. And including other legal provisions affecting them
The Legal Draftsman is proceeding with the amendments to this act by now and has pointed out the requirement of obtaining the approval of the present Cabinet of Ministers.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to complete the bill drafting process as soon as possible, considering the proposal furnished by the Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Facilities.
Three new Court of Appeal Justices sworn In
Cabinet approves payment of annual subscription to International Solar Alliance and to and sign Country Partnership Framework
Cabinet nod to amend industry Promotion Act No 46 of 1990
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