Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested at Manila’s international airport, acting on directives from the International Criminal Court (ICC) concerning allegations of crimes against humanity. The police apprehended Duterte upon his return from Hong Kong, as confirmed by the office of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The ICC has been investigating the extensive extrajudicial killings that occurred during Duterte’s aggressive anti-drug campaign, which lasted from when he was mayor of Davao City on November 1, 2011, until March 16, 2019. This investigation has raised serious concerns over potential human rights violations.
In a controversial move in 2019, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute, a decision viewed by human rights advocates as an attempt to evade accountability for these killings. The Duterte administration subsequently sought to halt the ICC’s inquiry in late 2021, asserting that local authorities were already addressing the allegations, and claiming the ICC did not have jurisdiction in this matter.
However, in July 2023, the ICC’s appeals judges ruled in favour of resuming the investigation, rejecting objections raised by Duterte’s government. The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, does intervene when nations are either unwilling or unable to prosecute individuals for egregious crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Despite the investigation, President Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022, has opted not to reinstate the Philippines’ membership in the ICC. Nonetheless, his administration has indicated a willingness to cooperate with the ICC should it issue a request for an international police alert, known as a Red Notice, to facilitate Duterte’s arrest.