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Social media users in the Philippines have shared a screenshot of a BBC news report in posts that accuse the International Criminal Court (ICC) of practicing selective justice. The news report states the ICC rejected a probe on alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan in 2019. It circulated online in the Philippines after an ICC tribunal authorised an investigation on President Rodrigo Duterte's war on illegal drugs. But the report is old and has been shared in a misleading context. The ICC overturned its ruling on Afghanistan in 2020, prompting an investigation. The screenshot was shared on Facebook on September 21, 2021. It shows a BBC news report published on April 12, 2019. The headline reads: ICC rejects request to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan. The post's caption states the ICC has no balls. A screenshot of the misleading post taken on September 28, 2021 The posts circulated online after the ICC announced on September 15 it would authorise a full investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on illegal drugs. Rights advocates say the anti-narcotics campaign has killed tens of thousands of people and resembled an illegitimate and systematic attack on civilians, AFP reported . The screenshot was also shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here , here and here . Comments on the posts show social media users have been misled. You're practicing selective justice. You only deal with the less powerful, one user wrote. So how come you're so eager to investigate Duterte? Were you bribed? But you won’t investigate Afghanistan? You're ICC - Idiot Coward Court, commented another user. But the screenshot shows an old news report that has been shared in a misleading context. Although the ICC ruled in 2019 that an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan would not serve the interests of justice, the tribunal's appeals chamber reversed the ruling on March 5, 2020. In 2020, it said: The Appeals Chamber finds that the Pre-Trial Chamber erred in deciding that 'an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan at this stage would not serve the interests of justice'. The BBC reported on the reversal of the earlier ruling here . In September 2021, Karim Khan -- the new ICC prosecutor -- said he would focus on the Taliban and Islamic State-Khorasan's actions in Afghanistan instead of alleged US crimes, AFP reported .
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