Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he attends a senate probe on the drug war during his administration, in Manila on October 28, 2024. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse
THE PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER | Published March 12, 2025
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to arrive in the Netherlands on Wednesday to face a crime against humanity charge stemming from his crackdown on drugs.
After landing, he will be taken to the International Criminal Court’s detention unit, where he will be readied for an initial appearance before the court’s judges.
Here is what he can expect:
The prison
Located in The Hague’s seaside suburb of Scheveningen, the ICC’s detention unit forms part of a Dutch prison and currently holds five other ICC prisoners being tried before the court.
READ: How ICC chamber decided that Duterte must face trial
It is also the prison that used to detain those wanted by the nearby International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including the likes of Slobodan Milosevic, Radovan Karadzic, and Ratko Mladic.
“In fulfilling its mandate, the ICC Registrar endeavors to ensure the mental, physical and spiritual welfare of the detained persons within an efficient system of detention, with consideration to their cultural diversity and their development as individuals,” the ICC says on its website.
Prisoners all have individual cells equipped with computers but no access to the internet to allow them to work on their cases.
The cells also have a bed, desk, shelves, a cupboard, toilet, hand basin, television, and an intercom to speak to guards when the cell is locked.
They may also use an outdoor exercise area and take part in sports and recreation activities.
LIVE UPDATES: Duterte arrested by PNP after ICC issues warrant
Three meals a day are served, but there is also a communal kitchen where detainees can cook with groceries provided from a shopping list “in order for them to adjust the meals provided to them, according to their taste and cultural requirements.”
Detainees may receive family or conjugal visits “several times a year,” and if they are declared destitute, the court foots the bill for the visits “to the extent possible.”
Initial appearance
ICC rules say all detainees “shall appear before the Pre-Trial Chamber, in the presence of the prosecutor, promptly upon arrival at the court.”
This hearing aims to verify a suspect’s identity and to inform the arrested person of the crimes he or she is accused of.
Prisoners are informed of their rights under the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, including the right to apply for interim release.
Pre-trial judges will then set a date on which it will hold a confirmation of charges hearing.
Confirmation of charges
The Rome Statute says that within a reasonable amount of time after a person’s surrender or detention, the Pre-Trial Chamber shall hold a hearing to “confirm the charges on which the prosecutor intends to seek trial.”
At that hearing, the prosecutor must convince judges that substantial grounds exist “to believe that the person committed the crime(s) charged” and that enough evidence has been gathered to hold a trial.
The ICC’s judges may, at the end of the hearing, either confirm the charges and send the accused to a trial chamber or say more evidence is needed from the prosecutor, modify the charges, or drop the charges altogether.
Once the charges have been confirmed, the court’s presidency puts together a trial chamber to prepare and then conduct a trial.
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SOURCE: www.globalnation.inquirer.net
RELATED: How Duterte went from boasting about killing drug dealers to facing trial for crimes against humanity
‘What is the crime that I committed?’: Former Philippine President reacts to being taken into custody
CNN | Published March 12, 2025
Rodrigo Duterte ran the Philippines for six turbulent years, during which he oversaw a brutal crackdown on drugs, openly threatened critics with death and tongue-lashed a host of global leaders from the Pope to former US President Barack Obama.
A former prosecutor, congressman and mayor, Duterte built his no-holds-bared reputation in the southern Philippine city of Davao. He swept to the presidency in 2016 on a populist – and popular – promise to replicate the hardline tactics of his hometown and wage war against drugs and drug pushers across the Southeast Asian nation.
All of you who are into drugs, you sons of b**ches, I will really kill you,” he told a huge crowd in one of his many characteristically profane-laced 2016 campaign speeches. “I have no patience, I have no middle ground. Either you kill me or I will kill you idiots.”
Once in power he unleashed what rights groups called “death squads” to eradicate drug pushers – many of the victims young men from impoverished shanty towns, shot by police and rogue gunmen as part of a campaign to target dealers.
Police data said 6,000 people were killed. Some rights groups say the death toll could be as high as 30,000 with innocents and bystanders often caught in the crossfire.
Duterte’s blood-soaked presidency ended in 2022. Three years later, only 8 policemen had been convicted for 5 of the victims killed in the war on drugs, according to court documents.
The ICC launched an investigation into allegations of “crimes against humanity” committed by Duterte during both his time as national leader and mayor of Davao.
Duterte has long denied the accusations of human rights abuses and contends the drug issue is one for domestic law enforcement. He has repeatedly said he will not kowtow to foreign jurisdiction and taunted the ICC, urging prosecutors to “hurry up” and move on him.
Two days before his arrest, he slammed the ICC in a typically fiery speech to supporters in Hong Kong.
“From my own news, I have a warrant…from the ICC or something… these motherf***ers have been chasing me for a long time. What did I do wrong ?” he said.
Police gather outside Villamor Air Base, where former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was held after his arrest in Manila on March 11, 2025.
A sudden arrest
But the tide had suddenly turned. Authorities were waiting for Duterte to return from Hong Kong, and arrested him at the main airport in Manila, sparking chaotic scenes.
As the news filtered out, many were left in shock.
Some flocked to churches in the majority Catholic country to attend impromptu mass to commemorate the thousands of victims of his drug war, seeing the move as a first step towards overdue justice.
And just before midnight, Duterte was back on a plane – this time bound for the Netherlands in what appeared to be a stunning end to a stormy and violent stint at the top of Philippine politics.
Supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte gather outside the gate of Villamor Airbase, where Duterte was taken following his arrest on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant, on March 11, 2025 in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Why now?
The arrest likely owes more to Duterte being on the wrong side of a feud between two of the Philippine’s most high-profile families than the might of the ICC, which cannot carry out arrests on its own and relies on the cooperation of national governments to execute warrants
Duterte’s clan was previously in an alliance with the famed Marcos political dynasty, with his daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio serving as deputy to current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
An emotional mass was held in memory of the drug war victims at a church in Manila on March 11, 2025 following news of Duterte’s arrest.
But in recent months the alliance collapsed, descending into public tirades and name-calling.
In October, Duterte-Carpio aired a litany of grievances against the president in a two-hour livestreamed press conference, saying she “wanted to chop his head off.”
Then she said in an online news conference on November 23 that she had contracted an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife and House Speak Martin Romualdez if she were killed, a threat she warned wasn’t a joke.
Marcos had said the Philippines will “disengage” from any contact with the ICC, as Manila does not recognize its authority over matters of national sovereignty.
That’s because Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the court in 2019.
But under the ICC’s withdrawal mechanism, the court keeps jurisdiction over crimes committed during the membership period of a state.
President Marcos said he was obliged to follow Interpol’s request to arrest Duterte.
“Interpol asked for help, and we obliged because we have commitments to the Interpol, which we have to fulfil. If we don’t do that, they will not, they will no longer help us with other cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad,” Marcos said in a late-night presser after the plane carrying Duterte took off.
What comes next?
Carlos Conde, a Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW) Conde said Duterte’s swift arrest and removal was a “pleasant surprise” that caught also a lot of people off guard.
“The victims of the drug war – thousands of victims – have pretty much lost faith in the domestic accountability mechanisms in the Philippines. So, they were pinning their hopes on the ICC,” he told CNN.
Nobel laureate Maria Ressa told CNN Duterte’s arrest marks a major moment for the country and signals that years of impunity can be ended.
“It’s historic for the Philippines, it’s the first time a Philippine president has been arrested for crimes against humanity. That an Interpol-led arrest actually ended this impunity under president Duterte that now has him going to The Hague,” said Ressa, former CNN Manila bureau chief and CEO and founder of news site Rappler.
Human rights campaigner Aurora Parong told CNN many advocates and drug war victims’ family members were elated with a momentary sense of relief after hearing Duterte had indeed been arrested.
“But there is this mixed feeling of joy and hope and anxiety because we do not exactly know where this will end up to what will be the outcome. Will there really be accountability?” said Parong, who is also co-chair of the Philippine Coalition for the ICC (PCICC).
But she cautioned it would be an excruciatingly long road to justice.
“It is time consuming. It will take years before there will be a conviction at the International Criminal Court. The waiting is really difficult for the victims and the families of the victims of the bloody war on drugs.”
What is the ICC?
Located in The Hague in the Netherlands, the ICC investigates and prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression against the territory of its member states, of which there are 125.
Duterte’s arrest and transfer is a significant victory for the body. The court cannot carry out arrests on its own and relies on the cooperation of national governments to execute warrants – which often rests on domestic politics and political will on whether to follow through.
Many of those on its wanted list remain at large, unruffled by the serious charges laid against them.
The court has been rounded on by the United States for seeking the arrests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for Israel’s military actions in Gaza following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack.
The ICC simultaneously sought the arrests of top Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who was later killed.
Neither the US nor Israel are members of the ICC.
The court has also issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine, although it is unlikely the warrant will be served any time soon. Putin travelled to ICC member Mongolia last year, but was not arrested.
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SOURCE: www.cnn.com
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