Claim: The International Criminal Court (ICC) did not appoint lawyers Kristina Conti and Joel Butuyan as representatives of victims in the Philippine drug war case after discovering that the two are affiliated with the New People’s Army terrorist group.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 26,400 views, 1,847 likes, 183 shares, and 495 comments as of writing.
Text in the video states: “Atty. Kristina Conti and Atty. Butuyan were rejected by the International Criminal Court from representing EJK victims because they were allegedly found to be activists and members of the terrorist group New People’s Army.”
The facts: The ICC has not made any official decision or announcement regarding the appointment or rejection of either Conti or Butuyan as legal representatives for the victims of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war.
This is because victims are currently in the process of registering so they could be formally admitted and be able to address the court later on. As soon as the process for their participation is approved, the ICC will appoint legal representation for the victims. According to Butuyan, the victims’ legal representation may come from the ICC Office of Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) or from the ICC’s List of Counsel. (READ: What to expect in the 6 months before Duterte’s ICC pre-trial)
In a decision dated April 17, the ICC pre-trial chamber ordered the Registry to take action to organize common legal representation, noting the Registry’s intention to carry out consultations “in order to ‘meaningfully assist victims in choosing legal representatives.’” The Chamber also assigned the OPCV to represent potential victims “until the mandate of the team of common legal representatives takes effect.”
ICC-accredited lawyers: In a Facebook post on April 23, Conti clarified she has not yet been formally appointed by the ICC as part of the victims’ legal team, but said this does not mean she is misrepresenting her role.
“I am not yet formally appointed as part of the legal representation for victims precisely because their registration is upcoming still. Yet there is no misrepresentation: I AM counsel for victims of the “war on drugs”, and have worked with the victims since 2016 and in this situation since 2018,” she said.
Among the six Filipino lawyers accredited by the ICC, at least three — namely Butuyan, Conti, and Gilbert Andres of the Center for International Law — are publicly assisting victims of the drug war and their families. The ICC may appoint one or all of them to represent the victims. (READ: Who are the lawyers who can appear before the ICC?) – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com
Marjuice Destinado is a Rappler intern. She is also a fact-checker and researcher-writer at Explained PH. A third-year political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU), she serves as the feature editor of Ang Suga, CNU’s official student publication.
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