The Philippines ex-president, Rodrigo Duterte, has been arrested over the charges of committing “crimes against humanity” committed during his presidency.
The Philippine government said he was taken into custody on Tuesday at Manila Airport upon his arrival from Hong Kong. The government received the ICC request through the International Police Agency Interpol.
“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant to the former president for the crime of crime against humanity,” the government said in a statement.
“He remains in the custody of the Philippine authorities,” it said.
The charge of “crimes against humanity” is related to Duterte’s brutal anti-drugs drive. The so-called “war on drugs,” while Duterte was in office from 2016 to 2022, deprived suspects of “due process under the law” and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including children, according to the complaint.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement calling his arrest “a critical step for accountability in the Philippines.”
“His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and send the clear message that no one is above the law. The Marcos government should swiftly surrender him to the ICC,” said Bryony Lau, HRW’s deputy Asia director.
However, the former president questioned the legality of his arrest on Tuesday, asking, “What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?” Duterte said in a video uploaded on social media by his daughter.
“Explain to me now the legal basis for me being here, as I was brought here not of my own volition. It’s somebody else’s,” he added.
In a speech on Saturday in Hong Kong, he also defended his actions as president, saying he “did everything…for the Filipino people.”
“If it’s my fate in life, that’s OK; I will accept it. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
Throughout Duterte’s six-year presidency, more than 7,000 people were killed in official anti-drug operations, according to police records.
However, human rights advocates have claimed that the killings numbered more than 30,000, including those who were killed by unknown suspects, some of whom later turned out to be police officers.
The Philippine government, during its war on drugs, had killed thousands of drug dealers, including some of the country's most wanted drug lords. The operation was directly carried out under the observation of then-President Duterte.
Follow us
