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Many people killed in Duterte’s crackdown had been on a drug watch list compiled by authorities or had previously surrendered to police, while a significant number of minors were victims, Bensouda’s office said in a report six months ago.

Human rights groups accuse Duterte of inciting deadly violence and say police have murdered unarmed suspects and staged crime scenes on a massive scale. Police deny this and Duterte insists he told police to kill only in self-defence.

Under the ICC statute, the prosecutor must ask judges for permission to open an official investigation into alleged crimes. The tribunal’s judges have up to four months to issue a decision on such a request.

In March 2018, Duterte cancelled the Philippines’ membership of the ICC’s founding treaty just weeks after Bensouda announced the preliminary examination was under way. He said the ICC was prejudiced against him.

Under the ICC’s withdrawal mechanism the court keeps jurisdiction over crimes committed during the membership period of a state, in this case between 2016 and 2019 when the Philippines’ pullout became official.

ICC enters new era

Bensouda’s request forms one of her final acts after nine years as ICC prosecutor – her successor, British lawyer Karim Khan, takes office on Wednesday.

In an interview on Monday, Bensouda said the ICC’s relations with the US ad been plunged into the deep freeze under the Trump administration but was undergoing a “reset” under Joe Biden.

The Trump administration hit Bensouda with sanctions for pressing ahead with investigations into the US and its allies, notably Israel, for alleged war crimes. She was subjected to a travel ban in March 2019 and – 18 months later – a freeze on her US-based assets.

“I do believe that it was wrong. Really, a red line has been crossed,” Bensouda said of the sanctions.

Biden lifted the sanctions in April, but his Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that Washington still strongly disagreed with some actions taken by the court.

The court is investigating allegations of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by US troops and foreign intelligence operatives as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the Afghanistan conflict that also covers alleged crimes by Afghan government forces and the Taliban.

Afghan authorities have asked the court to take over the probe.

Reuters, AP