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IBAHRI welcome for Duterte trial before ICC

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has welcomed the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte after an arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes committed in connection with his ‘war on drugs’ campaign.

This arrest marks a major step towards justice for the thousands of victims of his brutal regime, IBAHRI stated.

Duterte was arrested by authorities in Manila (11 March) and flown to the Hague, where he was surrendered to the custody of the ICC.

Murder charge

He is scheduled to make his initial appearance before the ICC in the coming days to be formally charged with the crime against humanity of murder, for acts committed in the Philippines between 2011 and 2019.

IBAHRI said that his leadership – as founder of the Davao death squad, mayor of Davao city and later president of the Philippines – was marked by a highly repressive ‘war on drugs’ campaign that claimed the lives of between 6,000 (according to police statistics) and 30,000 (according to human rights organisations).

Extrajudicial killings of suspects, carried out by police or government-directed death squads, became the norm.

Journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders seeking to expose the government’s crimes or restore the rule of law in the country were swiftly silenced.

Fear was the regime’s primary currency, shaping a nation gripped by violence and impunity, IBAHRI said.

In 2018, the ICC opened a preliminary examination of crimes against humanity committed in connection with the Philippines’ ‘war on drugs’. 

Shortly thereafter, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty.

However, this does not affect the validity of the arrest warrant against him, as it pertains to crimes committed between 2011 and 2019, when the Philippines was still a State Party to the ICC.

Untouchable

IBAHRI co-chair, Mark Stephens said: “Duterte always believed himself untouchable – until he wasn’t. At 79, he now faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.

“The fair and independent ICC will assess the extremely serious charges against him, in full accordance with the law and his right to a fair trial.”

“International justice may be a long and winding road but, eventually, it reaches its destination,” IBAHRI said.