On March 11, the International Criminal Court arrested Rodrigo Duterte, former Philippine President, on charges of ‘crimes against humanity’ for leading the infamous seven-year ‘War on Drugs’ campaign that killed as many as 30,000 people, mostly poor Filipinos. . His anti-drugs campaign, though globally condemned, had made him hugely popular in the country of around 116 million people, and enabled the rise of his family members in politics too.
A 2017 investigation by Human Rights Watch found that police falsified evidence to justify many of these killings. Other human rights? reports found that police even received “incentives to kill”.
Family members and supporters of Duterte claim that the arrest is tantamount to a “kidnapping’, as the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC. This claim spread across social media within a day of Duterte’s arrest in what appeared to be a coordinated ‘copypasta’ blitz, reported Philstar.
Philstar also reports that supporters have been harassing ICC judges and drug war victims in this coordinated online campaign, a strategy that might backfire and harm Duterte’s chances for interim release.
The Philippines had withdrawn from the ICC in 2018 (effective from 2019) but prosecutors from The Hague-based organisation says that they still have jurisdiction over crimes committed before the withdrawal. An official statement from the ICC office clarified that they are charging Duterte for crimes committed when he was the Mayor of Davao City (and head of the infamous Davao Death Squad), and for the first few years of his presidency – a period when the country was an ICC member.
“Mr Duterte is alleged to have committed these crimes as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population,” read the ICC’s March 12 statement.
The ICC recently came under fire from the Trump administration due to their investigation into Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, and the issuance of an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. It’s significant to note that US President Donald Trump had praised Duterte’s war on drugs campaign during his first tenure in 2016. By then, the death toll was 4,800 people.
For families of the victims of Duterte’s war, this arrest is a breakthrough in their long search for accountability. But human rights advocates stress that this is only the first step in what should be a comprehensive accountability process.
This is a developing story. For more updates on Duterte’s trial, visit Philstar.com.