Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has been charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The 80-year-old is accused of being criminally responsible for dozens of murders that allegedly took place as part of his so-called war on drugs, during which thousands of small-time drug dealers, users and others were killed without trial.
The ICC’s charge sheet, which includes several redactions, dates from July but was only made public on Monday.
ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said Duterte was an “indirect co-perpetrator” in the killings, which the court alleges were carried out by others, including police.
The first count laid against Mr Duterte concerns his alleged involvement in the killings of 19 people in Davao City between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor there.
The other two charges relate to times when he was serving as president of the Philippines, between 2016 and 2022, and launched his so-called war on drugs.
The second count relates to the murders of 14 “high-value targets” across the country, while the third relates to the murder and attempted murder of 45 people in village clearance operations.
Prosecutors referred to how Mr Duterte and his alleged co-perpetrators “shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralise’ alleged criminals in the Philippines (including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production) through violent crimes including murder”.
He has offered no apologies for his brutal anti-drugs crackdown, which saw more than 6,000 people killed – although activists believe the real figure could run into the tens of thousands.
Mr Duterte said he cracked down on drug dealers to rid the country of street crimes.
Rodrigo Duterte is the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC – and the first suspect to be flown to The Hague in Netherlands – where the court is based – in over three years. He has been in custody there since March.
His lawyer has said Mr Duterte is not able to stand trial due to poor health.
In May, the former president was again elected mayor of Davao, despite being in prison. His son Sebastian (who had been serving as mayor since 2022), has continued on as acting mayor in his father’s stead.
Mr Duterte’s supporters alleged the ICC was being used as a political tool by the country’s current president Ferdinand Marcos, who had publicly fallen out with the powerful Duterte family.
The ICC effectively has no power to arrest people without the co-operation of the countries they are in, which is most often refused – and Marcos had previously dismissed the idea of co-operating with the ICC.
