Manila, Philippines – Nearly three years after leaving the presidency, former President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested by Philippine authorities in Manila, upon the request of the Worldwide Legal Court docket (ICC) at The Hague, which is investigating allegations of “crimes towards humanity” dedicated throughout his six years in energy.
Duterte was instantly taken into police custody on Tuesday on the Manila worldwide airport following his arrival from Hong Kong, in a transfer hailed by human rights teams as “a important step for accountability within the Philippines”.
His journey to Hong Kong over the weekend had whipped up hypothesis that he would evade arrest.
The arrest on Tuesday marks the primary time {that a} chief within the Philippines might be dealing with a case earlier than a world tribunal. The arrest is very uncommon for the reason that Philippines shouldn’t be a member of the ICC any extra — Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the worldwide court docket in 2019 — and so shouldn’t be obligated beneath worldwide regulation to detain somebody who has a warrant towards their title.
The choice by the federal government of present President Ferdinand Marcos Jr additionally represents an about-turn since Marcos Jr has beforehand rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Philippines.
So what’s Duterte accused of, what prompted the Marcos authorities to arrest him, how has Duterte responded, and what’s subsequent for the ex-president?
What’s the cost towards Duterte – and what prompted the ICC investigation?
The ICC has but to subject an official assertion on the particular cost towards Duterte.
The Hague-based court docket has been investigating allegations of “crimes towards humanity” dedicated by Duterte since 2018, when he was nonetheless in energy. It briefly suspended its work in 2021 upon the request of the Philippine authorities however resumed its investigation in 2023.
Duterte ran for president in 2016 on a single subject of preventing crime within the Philippines.
Throughout his marketing campaign and in a while as president, he repeatedly urged police to “kill” drug suspects, or encourage suspects to struggle again so as to justify the lethal shootings.
After taking workplace on June 30, 2016, he instantly launched his lethal marketing campaign described by the nation’s Catholic leaders as a “reign of terror”. Over his six years in workplace, greater than 7,000 folks have been killed in official anti-drug operations, in response to police information.
However human rights advocates mentioned the dying toll numbered greater than 30,000, together with these killed by unknown suspects, a few of whom later turned out to be cops.
Not all circumstances have been lined within the grievance filed earlier than the ICC. However human rights advocates and attorneys of the victims’ households managed to compile proof from just a few hundred circumstances that have been submitted to The Hague court docket.
Duterte has repeatedly defended his actions as president. As lately as final October throughout a Senate listening to, he mentioned that he presents “no apologies, no excuses” for finishing up the drug conflict.
Throughout the identical listening to, he additionally admitted beneath oath that he maintained a “dying squad” of gangsters to kill different criminals whereas he was the mayor of the southern Philippines’ Davao Metropolis. A few of these circumstances have been additionally included within the ICC grievance.
Has the Marcos Jr authorities modified its views on the ICC?
Till Duterte’s arrest on Tuesday, Marcos Jr had repeatedly rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Philippines and on the Duterte case, famously saying that he considers the worldwide physique “a risk” to the nation’s sovereignty.
In July 2023, only a yr into his presidency, he categorically declared that the Philippines “won’t cooperate” with the ICC “in any approach, form, or type”, after the ICC introduced the resumption of its investigation of Duterte.
Then, in early 2024, he was quoted as saying, “Let me say this for the one hundredth time. I don’t recognise the jurisdiction of ICC within the Philippines. The Philippine authorities won’t elevate a finger to assist any investigation that the ICC conducts.”
Marcos Jr would reiterate the identical line throughout his go to to Germany in March 2024 and at a gathering with overseas correspondents in Manila in April of the identical yr.
But, the political equation that undergirded that place on the ICC has modified.
When Marcos Jr sought the presidency in 2022, he ran on a ticket with Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte, successful a landslide victory on a promise of continuous the elder Duterte’s coverage.
However their alliance started to crumble when supporters of the Duterte household known as for Marcos Jr’s ouster, following the arrest of Apollo Quiboloy, an influential pastor and non secular adviser of former President Duterte.
Their political union lastly broke up, after Vice President Sara Duterte was investigated for alleged misuse of tens of millions of {dollars} in authorities funds, and was impeached by Marcos Jr’s allies in Congress in late 2024.
Since then, the 2 camps have been engaged in an all-out political fight forward of midterm elections in Could.
On Tuesday morning, Marcos Jr’s workplace mentioned it had acquired an official copy of the warrant of arrest “for the crimes towards humanity” from the ICC just a few hours earlier.
“He’s now within the custody of authorities,” the federal government assertion mentioned, noting that Duterte is “in good well being”.
In a press release posted on Fb, President Marcos’s chief authorized counsel, Juan Ponce Enrile, mentioned the Philippine legal guidelines “don’t have anything to do” with Duterte’s present authorized drawback.
“His authorized drawback is brought on by legal guidelines enforceable by the ICC. His attorneys ought to endeavor to safe a duplicate of the ICC costs towards him in order that they are going to know why he was ordered to be arrested by the ICC,” he mentioned.
How has Duterte responded to his arrest?
“You’ll simply should kill me if I cannot comply,” Duterte was caught saying in a video clip, speaking to police officers who arrested him as quickly his aircraft landed within the Philippine capital on Tuesday.
In one other video posted on Instagram by Duterte’s youngest daughter, Veronica Duterte, the previous chief was seen asking authorities, “What’s the regulation and what’s the crime that I dedicated?”
“Clarify to me now the authorized foundation for my being right here, as apparently I used to be introduced right here not of my very own volition. It’s someone else’s,” he added.
In a press release, Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s former authorized adviser, described the arrest as “illegal”, saying that the previous president was “disadvantaged of authorized illustration on the time of his arrest”.
Senator Ronald dela Rosa, an ally of Duterte and his former high police enforcer, has additionally questioned the arrest, submitting an emergency case earlier than the Supreme Court docket.
What’s subsequent for Duterte?
In a press release despatched to Al Jazeera, the Worldwide Coalition for Human Rights within the Philippines (ICHRP) mentioned Duterte’s detention “marks an unprecedented step in the direction of justice” for 1000’s of victims of the drug conflict.
“Duterte’s arrest is the start of accountability for the mass killings that outlined his brutal rule,” ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy mentioned.
Rise Up, a bunch of ladies whose members of the family or youngsters have been amongst these killed within the drug conflict, additionally welcomed the arrest and promised to “keep vigilant and see by” the prosecution of Duterte.
“We name for and assist the expeditious give up and switch of custody of Duterte to the ICC,” the group mentioned.
It’s nonetheless unclear when Duterte might be turned over to The Hague.
Whereas visiting Hong Kong on Saturday, Duterte had commented in regards to the impending arrest, saying, “If it’s actually my destiny in life, that’s okay, I’ll settle for it. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
In an interview with Al Jazeera earlier than the arrest was introduced, lawyer Maria Kristina Conti, who represents among the households of the victims, mentioned it was essential for Filipinos to witness the decision and prosecution of the case “so that it’ll not occur once more”.
“If you don’t put it on file, this might be topic to historic revisionism sooner or later,” she warned.
“Within the common context of justice, we additionally want to interrupt the assumption that solely the wealthy and highly effective can attain equity, and set up that justice can also be for the poor and the marginalised.”
