Dear Judges and Advocates of the ICC,
Welcome to the International Criminal Court at BERMUN 2025!
In light of this year’s conference theme, “Building a Rules-Based Order to Withstand Authoritarianism”, the ICC will deliberate over the case of Prosecutor vs. Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
After being elected in 2016, the former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Roa Duterte, vowed to end the rampant drug use, claiming that the country was in danger of becoming a “narco-state”-a term used to describe a nation whose economy heavily depends on the illegal drug trade. Following this, the “Philippine war on drugs” campaign was launched, resulting in over 15,000 civilian deaths, with at least 2,555 of them being attributed to the Philippine National Police. The campaign allegedly resulted in extrajudicial killings, torture and rape at the beheast Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
Through toleration and continuation of the campaign, Rodrigo Roa Duterte demonstrated authoritarian tendencies by holding himself, and other members of the federal law enforcement, to a different legal standard, thereby raising questions about national sovereignty, human rights, and accountability of state leaders in international law.
On a more personal note, I am a 10th grader at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. In my free time, I enjoy dancing and spending time with friends! Outside of politics I’m quite passionate about women’s rights and community service, things I like to actively partake in in my personal life. My MUN journey began at the beginning of 10th grade, where the aspect of being able to debate about real and current issues on a global scale piqued my interest, and I quickly became invested in the program! This will be my fifth conference overall and second as a Student Officer.
I look forward to seeing you in November!
Sincerely,
Susannah Skinner
