Former Philippine president Duterte set to appear in Hague on ‘war on drugs’ charges
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to make his first appearance before judges of the international criminal court at 1pm GMT, days after his arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to the deadly ‘war on drugs’ he oversaw while in office.
The 79-year-old Duterte, the first Asian former leader arrested on an ICC warrant, will be read his rights and formally informed of the charges of crimes against humanity that the court’s prosecutors filed against him after a lengthy investigation, AP reported.
Soon after his election in 2016, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte launched his so-called “war on drugs”, a bloody campaign in which as many as 30,000 civilians were killed.
Most of the victims were men from poor, urban areas, who were gunned down in the streets or their homes by police, or in some cases, unidentified assailants.
The authorities routinely claimed police had killed in self-defence. However, groups documenting the killings have challenged this claim, alleging the police regularly falsified evidence, including by planting drugs and guns at the scene.
Witnesses frequently stated that victims were unarmed and did not pose a threat. The type of wounds sustained by victims also contradicted police claims: many were shot multiple times, and in some cases in their backs or the back of their heads.
Today, the court will also seek to set a date for a key pre-trial hearing – likely months from now – at which judges will assess whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a full trial, which could take years. If Duterte is convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Duterte was arrested Tuesday amid chaotic scenes in the Philippine capital after returning from a visit to Hong Kong. He threatened a police general with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and told law enforcers “you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague,” according to police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre.
The standoff occurred at a Philippine airbase before he and other police officers managed to bring the former leader on to a government-chartered jet that took him to the Netherlands. Torre described the confrontation as “very tense” and said Duterte refused to be fingerprinted.
Duterte’s legal team challenges his arrest and said that Philippine authorities didn’t show any copy of the ICC warrant and violated his constitutional rights. He will not be required to formally enter a plea at Friday’s hearing.
Key events
Rebecca Ratcliffe and Kate Lamb have written this profile for the Guardian of some of the people instrumental in bringing the case against Rodrigo Duterte to the international criminal court in The Hague. They wrote:
To some Duterte’s arrest this week came as a sudden shock. But for years many brave Filipinos, from priests, politicians, pathologists, to relatives of the victims and journalists, have worked tirelessly, in and out of the spotlight, to expose the horrors of the deadly campaign and collect enough evidence to hold Duterte to account.
You can read the profiles here: The senator, the priest, the forensic pathologist – the people who bought ex-president Duterte to justice
There have been demonstrations in the Philippines calling for the imprisonment of Rodrigo Duterte. These images show protesters in the streets of Quezon City.
Earlier this week my colleague Kate Lamb wrote this profile of the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte.
Speaking earlier this week, Karim Khan KC, who has served as prosecutor of the international criminal court since 2021, said that the appearance of Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague showed that international law was “not as weak as some may think.”
Describing the arrest of Duterte as “an important moment”, Khan said:
The office has been investigating the situation of the Philippines for some time in relation to the so-called “war on drugs”.
The judges have issued [a] warrant, and it’s been executed. And in issuing the warrant, the judges have found reasonable grounds to believe that MDuterte has committed the crime of murder as the founder, as the head of the so-called Davao death squad, as the mayor of Davao City, and then later as the president of the Philippines between 2011 and 2019.
I think it’s important to show that the office has been working with communities, with states, with international organisations, with other partners, to make sure that the investigation could be focused and could move as effectively as possible, and the fact that it’s been executed is important to victims.
It means a lot, I think, to victims. That’s the feedback we’ve already received.
And many say that international law is not as strong as we want, and I agree with that, but as I also repeatedly emphasise, international law is not as weak as some may think.
When we come together, when we work, when we build partnerships, the rule of law can prevail. Warrants can be executed.
Khan went on to remind people that the court views Duterte as “presumed innocent”, saying:
It is important to underline, as we now start a new stage of proceedings, that Duterte is presumed innocent. He will make his initial appearance before the court soon, and the focus of the office is on the judicial proceedings, and on proving his case before the judges of the international criminal court.
Reuters notes that Duterte’s surrender to the court marks a victory for Khan, who faces US sanctions over the court issuing arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has previously said he will accept responsibility for his government’s so-called “war on drugs” in a video message filmed on board a plane shortly before he was taken into the custody of the international criminal court (ICC).
“Whatever happened in the past, I will be the front of our law enforcement and the military. I said this already, that I will protect you, and I will be responsible for everything,” he said.
The video message, which appeared to have been filmed on board the aircraft that brought him to the Netherlands to face charges of crimes against humanity, were his first comments to the Philippines public since his dramatic arrest on Tuesday.
Dressed in a plain white shirt, and speaking to the camera, he said: “This will be a long legal proceeding. But I say to you, I will continue to serve the country. So be it. If that is my destiny. Thank you”
Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest came amid a breakdown in relations between his family and the Marcos family, who had previously joined forces to run the Philippines.
Current president Ferdinand Marcos and vice-president Sara Duterte – Rodrigo’s daughter – are at loggerheads, with the latter facing an impeachment trial over charges including an alleged assassination plot against Marcos.
Sara Duterte is in the Netherlands to support her father, after labelling his arrest “oppression and persecution”, with the Duterte family having sought an emergency injunction from the supreme court to stop his transfer.
But victims of the “war on drugs” hope that Duterte will finally face justice for his alleged crimes.
Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest could be telling blow in the Philippines’ dynastic feud
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Few expected things to move so quickly. Supporters of the Philippines’ former president Rodrigo Duterte barely had time to protest before he was jetted off to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his country’s so-called “war on drugs”. According to activists, this bloody crackdown has seen as many as 30,000 people killed since 2016.
The charges brought against the former leader are the culmination of years of work by activists, lawyers and victims, who documented abuses committed under his government, often at great personal risk. But Duterte arguably would not have been surrendered to The Hague if it weren’t for his family’s dramatic feud with that of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the current president.
The two families were once allies. Marcos Jr ran on a joint ticket with Duterte’s eldest daughter – Sara Duterte, now the vice-president – in the 2022 election, winning a landslide victory. At the time, Marcos Jr, who capitalised on the popularity of the Duterte name, was careful not to criticise Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, and promised not to cooperate with the international criminal court’s continuing investigation.
It was inevitable that the families’ alliance would collapse, according to Prof Maria Ela L Atienza, of the University of the Philippines. Both sides want their candidate to be elected president in 2028, so, she said: “It’s a fight for the survival of their political families, their dynasties.”
Marcos Jr’s public comments about the ICC shifted as tension grew. His government has continued to maintain that it would not assist the court, of which the Philippines is no longer a member, but explained that it would cooperate with any arrest warrant issued via Interpol.
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ in the Philippines – explained in 30 seconds.
The former president faces an investigation by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity over the alleged extrajudicial killing of thousands of drug suspects.
For a rundown of what led to this point, see our explainer here:
Former Philippine president Duterte set to appear in Hague on ‘war on drugs’ charges
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to make his first appearance before judges of the international criminal court at 1pm GMT, days after his arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to the deadly ‘war on drugs’ he oversaw while in office.
The 79-year-old Duterte, the first Asian former leader arrested on an ICC warrant, will be read his rights and formally informed of the charges of crimes against humanity that the court’s prosecutors filed against him after a lengthy investigation, AP reported.
Soon after his election in 2016, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte launched his so-called “war on drugs”, a bloody campaign in which as many as 30,000 civilians were killed.
Most of the victims were men from poor, urban areas, who were gunned down in the streets or their homes by police, or in some cases, unidentified assailants.
The authorities routinely claimed police had killed in self-defence. However, groups documenting the killings have challenged this claim, alleging the police regularly falsified evidence, including by planting drugs and guns at the scene.
Witnesses frequently stated that victims were unarmed and did not pose a threat. The type of wounds sustained by victims also contradicted police claims: many were shot multiple times, and in some cases in their backs or the back of their heads.
Today, the court will also seek to set a date for a key pre-trial hearing – likely months from now – at which judges will assess whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a full trial, which could take years. If Duterte is convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Duterte was arrested Tuesday amid chaotic scenes in the Philippine capital after returning from a visit to Hong Kong. He threatened a police general with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and told law enforcers “you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague,” according to police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre.
The standoff occurred at a Philippine airbase before he and other police officers managed to bring the former leader on to a government-chartered jet that took him to the Netherlands. Torre described the confrontation as “very tense” and said Duterte refused to be fingerprinted.
Duterte’s legal team challenges his arrest and said that Philippine authorities didn’t show any copy of the ICC warrant and violated his constitutional rights. He will not be required to formally enter a plea at Friday’s hearing.
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