Part of the Series
Human Rights and Global Wrongs
Activists in the Philippines say the stunning arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a crime against humanity marks a major step toward accountability for the thousands of Filipinos targeted and killed under the pretext of his infamous “war on drugs.”
“The arrest of Duterte is highly significant for the cause of international justice because it sends a clear signal that tyrants who brazenly trample on basic human rights can eventually be held to account by alternative international accountability mechanisms,” Edre U. Olalia, chairperson of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) in the Philippines and co-president of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, told Truthout.
In a press release, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines stated that Duterte’s arrest “marks an unprecedented step towards justice for the thousands of victims of his bloody war on the poor and war on dissent.”
On March 7, 2025, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued an arrest warrant for Duterte for a crime against humanity allegedly committed between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, in the context of what he referred to as his “war on drugs.” While Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC’s Rome Statute on March 17, 2019, the chamber limited its findings to the period during which the Philippines was a party to the treaty.
Filipino authorities arrested Duterte in the Manila airport pursuant to Interpol and sent him to The Hague to face the charges at the ICC.
Duterte’s Crime Against Humanity
In issuing the arrest warrant, the chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Duterte committed the crime against humanity of murder. The Rome Statute requires that the murder be perpetrated “as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.”
The chamber determined that an attack occurred pursuant to an organizational policy while Duterte was head of the Davao Death Squad (which he founded), and a state policy while he was president of the Philippines. The chamber also concluded that the attack was widespread and systematic, it took place over several years, and thousands of people were killed.
Duterte became mayor of Davao City in 1998 and president of the Philippines in 2016. When he assumed the position of mayor, Duterte established a “death squad” whose mission was to kill criminals. In both of his capacities, Duterte and his co-perpetrators agreed to “neutralise” alleged criminals or those with criminal propensities, including but not limited to drug offenders. “Neutralise,” the chamber wrote, meant “kill,” often in a “very covert and secret manner,” without basic law enforcement or investigation.
The chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Duterte was individually responsible for the crime against humanity of murder as an indirect co-perpetrator. He designed and oversaw the project; provided it with firearms, ammunition, safehouses, vehicles and communications equipment to carry out the killings; instructed and authorized violent acts against suspected criminals; appointed personnel to execute the crimes; offered financial incentives and promotions to police officers and “hit men” to kill the suspects; promised immunity; and shielded the perpetrators from investigation and prosecution.
“The arrest of Duterte sends a clear signal that tyrants who brazenly trample on basic human rights can eventually be held to account by alternative international accountability mechanisms.”
Even though he is no longer president of the Philippines, Duterte “appears to continue to wield considerable power,” according to the chamber.
Duterte’s War on Drugs Was a Pretext to Kill Political Opponents
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Duterte promised a crackdown on narcotics, warning that “drug pushers, holdup men and do-nothings” should leave or he would “kill” them. Police records indicate that more than 7,000 people were killed in official anti-narcotics operations. But human rights defenders say the death toll exceeded 30,000.
Catholic leaders called the program a “reign of terror.” Duterte normalized the killings by labeling them part of the war on drugs, said Carlos Conde, senior researcher for Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, covering the Philippines.
“The bogus ‘war on drugs’ was also used as a pretext to go after members of the opposition as exemplified by the filing of trumped-up charges and persecution of critics,” Olalia said. NUPL represents and assists some of the victims of Duterte’s bloody drug war.
Rights groups said Duterte used his so-called war as an excuse to kill his political opponents, even though experts said the Philippines did not have an oversized drug problem.
After his 2016 election as president, Duterte listed 158 public officials he accused of involvement in the narcotics trade. In 2018, he issued another list with the names of 600 people whom he claimed were “communist terrorists.” That list included then-UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, who believed she was targeted because of her opposition to the attacks and killings of Indigenous people in Mindanao.
On September 27, 2018, Duterte publicly admitted, “My only sin is the extrajudicial killings.”
Trump Praises Duterte
In September 2018, I testified as an expert before the International Peoples’ Tribunal on the Philippines in Brussels, Belgium. The tribunal found Duterte guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, aided and abetted by President Donald Trump during his first administration. In 2017, Trump praised Duterte, telling him in a telephone call that he was doing “an unbelievable job on the drug problem.”
During the terms of Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Trump, the U.S. provided assistance to the Philippine government which enabled it to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, the tribunal concluded: “US presence and the permanent and expanded basing of US troops are further emboldening the Defendant Duterte government in implementing the counterinsurgency program Oplan Kapayapaan patterned after the 2009 US Counterinsurgency Guide and financed by Defendant US government.” U.S. government assistance to the Duterte government, the tribunal wrote, included the provision of “intelligence, funding, orientation, training and arms to promote and pursue its economic and geopolitical interests in the region.”
In its written decision, the tribunal adopted my testimony: “U.S. military aid to the Philippine government facilitates its commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity against its own people. Like Philippine leaders, U.S. political and military leaders could be liable in the International Criminal Court as aiders and abettors of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Two months after those tribunal proceedings, Benjamin Ramos, a human rights lawyer and co-founder (with Olalia) of NUPL, was assassinated. Ramos had defended the rights of farmers in the Philippine island of Negros for more than 30 years.
In May 2024, I testified once again as an expert at the International People’s Tribunal on War Crimes in the Philippines in Brussels. The tribunal found Duterte and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. guilty of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law against the Filipino people. Then U.S. President Joe Biden was found guilty of aiding and abetting these crimes.
Many of the 15 witnesses — both in person and by video deposition — delivered firsthand accounts of extrajudicial killings, torture, forced disappearances and attacks on Indigenous communities defending their ancestral lands from plunder by mining and other corporations. The regime engaged in “red-tagging,” in which targeted individuals were “tagged” as terrorists or communists or both, regardless of their actual political beliefs or affiliations.
The U.S. provided assistance to the Philippine government which enabled it to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, the tribunal concluded.
The Philippine government’s counterinsurgency program drew no distinction between civilians and combatants, the tribunal found, in violation of international humanitarian law.
What Happens Next
Duterte made a video appearance before the ICC judges today where he was informed of the charges against him and read his rights. The judge set a confirmation of charges (indictment) hearing for September 21, where the charges against him will be confirmed, the prosecutors will describe the evidence against him, and his defense attorneys can respond and challenge the court’s jurisdiction. The judge also ordered the prosecution, within seven days from today, to provide material to support the basis of the arrest warrant. His trial could take place within two years, where his lawyers reportedly plan to argue “self-defense.” Meanwhile, Duterte will be held in a custodial detention facility near The Hague. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
“The strong collective pushback has demonstrated that he is not invincible as he thinks and acts to be,” said NUPL’s Olalia.
Unlike mainstream media, we’re not capitulating to Trump.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.