The ICC, with 119 state parties, handles war crimes, genocide and other crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

The Philippines became the 117th state party to the ICC when the Senate ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC on August 30. The treaty will come into force for the country on November 1.

He said under the Geneva Convention, even if captured, in the case of the three soldiers in Basilan, they are entitled to humane treatment.

“Even a single act constitutes a war crime under the ICC and detainees under armed conflict are still entitled to fair trial and humane treatment, but the three soldiers were brutally killed during their captivity,” said Roque at the UP forum on Advancing Philippine contributions to the ICC held on Friday at UP College Law.

Professor Roque, who is one of the country’s legal experts on the ICC, said it should be the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that should refer the case to the ICC headquarters in The Hague. The ICC, in turn, will send a fact-finding team to investigate the incident of the three slain soldiers.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago is vying for a judge seat of the ICC for the term 2012-20. The elections will be held in New York from December 12 to 21.

In her speech at the forum, Senator Santiago said the Philippines’ membership to the ICC “ is nothing less than a signal contribution, because the Court is arguably the most important institutional innovation since the founding of the United Nations.”

She said even after Manila’s accession to the Rome Statute, the Philippines still needs to undertake wide-ranging tasks.

“Perhaps it would be possible for the 2012 budget to provide for a commission of experts to engage in a thorough professional study of emergent problems and approaches under Philippine law in relation to the Rome Statute,” said Santiago.