Ex-Philippine president Duterte charged with crimes against humanity

The International Criminal Court has charged former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte with crimes against humanity for his alleged role in at least 76 killings. The allegations cover murders committed while he was president and earlier as mayor of Davao City. A 15-page indictment made public on Sept. 22 in The Hague outlines three counts of murder tied to his war on drugs.

The first count of murder attributes 19 killings to Duterte’s time as mayor of Davao City between 2013 and 2016. The second lists 14 killings in 2016 and 2017 involving what prosecutors described as “high value targets.” The third charges responsibility for 43 killings during clearance operations against lower-level suspects from 2016 to 2018.

While the ICC filing names 76 victims, human rights groups estimate that thousands of deaths occurred under Duterte’s drug war, with some placing the figure between 12,000 and 30,000.

Duterte, 80, was arrested in the Philippines in March under an ICC warrant and transferred to a detention facility in The Hague. His legal team has argued the court lacks jurisdiction because the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, but ICC judges maintain that alleged crimes committed before the withdrawal remain prosecutable. The indictment specifies that the murders cited occurred between November 2011 and March 2019, when the Philippines was still a party to the treaty.

Duterte remains in custody while proceedings are on hold. Judges postponed confirmation hearings scheduled for late September to assess his medical and cognitive state after his lawyers claimed he suffers from deterioration affecting memory, reasoning and daily functioning. While his ex-wife Elizabeth Zimmerman has previously stated that he has become “so thin, skin and bones,” she recently shared that her former husband is “happy” and “accepts everything.”