Context:

• The Philippines announced to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), a month after the judicial body started an inquiry into President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial war on drugs.

Other Details:

• Human Rights groups have long accused Duterte of gross human rights violations in his anti-drug campaign, which Human Rights Watch estimates have claimed the lives of 12,000 people since June 2016.
• Duterte has long denied the accusations of human rights abuses and contends the drug issue is one for domestic law enforcement.
• Under Article 127 of the Rome Statute, a state party’s withdrawal from the treaty can only take effect a year after the written notification is received by the UN Secretary-General.
• The US and Russia withdrew from the Statute years after signing it, while China, India and the majority of Asian nations never ratified the treaty and are not part of the Hague-based court.

About ICC:

• The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal which has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
• its headquarter is in The Hague, Netherlands.
• The ICC, currently have 123-member states.
• The Rome Statute is a multilateral treaty which serves as the ICC’s foundational and governing document.
• Burundi became the first country to withdraw its membership in October 2017.

Source:BS & Wiki