By Francessca S. Abalos

MANILA — Philippine efforts to pursue accountability for alleged abuses linked to former President Rodrigo R. Duterte's anti-drug campaign could offer lessons for post-conflict justice and reconciliation efforts in Ukraine, a Ukrainian human rights investigator said.

Oksana Pokalchuk, co-executive director of the Ukrainian human rights and war crime investigation group Truth Hounds, said Ukraine has not come to the Philippines to lecture Filipinos about justice and accountability, nor is it seeking to be lectured. Both countries have had to confront difficult human rights and accountability issues, she pointed out, which means each side can learn from the other's experiences.

"We don't want to teach and we don't want to be taught because, that's the thing, we both know what happened to our countries," Ms. Pokalchuk said via Zoom in an interview with BusinessWorld.

Her group has documented more than 17,600 potential war crime incidents since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, gathering evidence that could support criminal prosecutions. The Philippines, meanwhile, continues to grapple with the aftermath of Mr. Duterte's anti-drug campaign, which is the subject of proceedings before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The ICC is a permanent tribunal created by the Rome Statute to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression; the Philippines withdrew from the treaty in 2019, though the court maintains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while the country was still a member.

Complementary, not a replacement

Ms. Pokalchuk said international justice mechanisms such as the ICC should complement, rather than replace, domestic efforts to pursue accountability.

"ICC is not something that replaces local law," she said. "It's a complementary mechanism that just supports existing tools in the country."

That framing mirrors complementarity, the guiding principle written into the Rome Statute itself: the court may act only when national authorities are unwilling or unable to genuinely carry out investigations or prosecutions. Countries should focus on strengthening local courts, prosecutors and investigators while using international institutions to address cases that domestic systems cannot effectively pursue, she said.

Ukraine's experience has also underscored the limits of relying solely on multilateral bodies, she noted, observing that Russia's veto power at the United Nations has constrained efforts to secure action through the Security Council, where Russia sits as one of five permanent members able to unilaterally block resolutions. That has forced Ukraine to develop other legal and diplomatic pathways to pursue accountability for alleged war crimes and acts of aggression, she added. One such pathway runs through the ICC: neither Ukraine nor Russia is a party to the Rome Statute, but Ukraine accepted the court's jurisdiction in declarations filed in 2014 and 2015 — a jurisdictional basis the ICC has used to pursue its investigation into alleged crimes there.

Truth and reconciliation as a model

Ms. Pokalchuk also pointed to truth and reconciliation initiatives as a possible model for post-conflict societies — a format best exemplified by South Africa's post-apartheid commission. Citing Philippine efforts to examine alleged abuses linked to the drug war, she said Ukraine might eventually need a similar mechanism as communities recover from occupation and armed conflict.

"It's a very, very good tool for seeking justice," she said.

Survivors and victims' families should have opportunities to participate in activities that let them share experiences and engage with others who endured similar trauma, she said. The chance to connect with other survivors, share experiences and support one another is an important part of the healing process, she added, noting that shared experiences of loss and injustice could create common ground across countries despite differences in history and circumstance.

Academic cooperation

During her visit to Manila, Ms. Pokalchuk met with lawyers, academics and civil society groups involved in human rights and accountability work. Truth Hounds is exploring academic cooperation with Philippine universities, including lectures on international humanitarian law, accountability mechanisms and legal developments related to the war in Ukraine. The lectures remain exploratory, but alongside the ICC proceedings they are a concrete thread to follow as both accountability processes move forward.

Ms. Pokalchuk also praised Philippine lawyers, saying they are respected internationally for their legal expertise.

Whether societies emerge stronger after periods of violence depends partly on how governments, institutions and the media manage public discussions about those experiences, she said. A transparent process could help build a stronger sense of national identity, while mishandling unresolved grievances risks deepening divisions, she added.

Source: BusinessWorld