MANILA — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday said the United Nations (UN) is unlikely to act on a submission from a Japanese non-government organization (NGO) urging the body to call for the provisional release of former president Rodrigo Duterte from detention before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The DFA said the International Career Support Association (ICSA), a Japan-based NGO registered in Nara Prefecture, earlier made a statement before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) claiming that Duterte’s surrender to the ICC was politically motivated.

The DFA dismissed the claims as “baseless” and said the UNHRC’s circulation of such statements follows standard procedure.

“The United Nations routinely receives such statements and circulates these as a matter of procedure, without comments or any other actions,” it said.

It added that no action is expected from either the Human Rights Council or the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) regarding the submission.

“On the statement itself, we anticipate that no action will be taken on it by the Human Rights Council (HRC) or the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This is not the first time the International Career Support Association (ICSA) has brought these baseless claims before the United Nations.”

The DFA also said previous submissions by the NGO did not result in any action from UN bodies.

“What the records will show is that the actions that have been taken by the HRC and the OHCHR, as well as the statements of a number of States in the HRC and elsewhere, were the direct opposite of the claims in the statement by the ICSA,” it said.

“What the records show are the UN and its member states calling for accountability.”

The DFA noted that ICSA holds Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), allowing it to participate in UN discussions and meetings as a civil society organization.

It added that the NGO’s activities span areas including agriculture, biodiversity, development, education, human rights, labor, and science and technology.

The UN NGO database also indicates that ICSA is funded through membership fees, consultancy and research services, product sales, business services, and donations and grants from domestic sources, among others.