(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — A group of lawyers has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resume its probe into the Duterte administration’s bloody drug war.

The ICC suspended its investigation after Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Eduardo Malaya asked the body to “defer to” the local authorities’ probes into deaths during anti-drug operations.

“The NUPL (National Union of People’s Lawyers) entreats the ICC Prosecutor to deny any such deferral request and, instead, continue with the conduct of a full-blown investigation into the drug-war atrocities,” the group said in a statement.

“These domestic remedies described by the Philippine Ambassador in his letter have proven utterly ineffective in stopping wave after wave of drug-related killings, the imprisonment of thousands of poor Filipinos on questionable charges, and the commission of countless human rights violations during the anti-drug campaign,” it argued.

NUPL questioned why the Duterte administration is “suddenly waving” the Justice department’s investigation into 52 drug war deaths “out of tens of thousands as an indicator that domestic mechanisms are working.” It added this is just the government’s attempt at “white-washing” its anti-drug campaign.

Meanwhile, Malacañang on Saturday reiterated that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines and expressed hope that the court will grant its request.