Former Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
The 80-year-old faces allegations of bearing criminal responsibility for dozens of murders linked to his controversial anti-drug campaign, which claimed thousands of lives, many of them small-time users, dealers, and others killed without due process.
The ICC’s charge sheet, partially redacted and originally dated July, was released publicly on Monday.
Deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang described Duterte as an “indirect co-perpetrator” of the killings, asserting that they were carried out by police and other actors under his leadership.
The indictment includes three counts. The first accuses Duterte of involvement in the killings of 19 people in Davao City between 2013 and 2016, during his tenure as mayor.
The second covers the deaths of 14 “high-value targets” nationwide while he was president between 2016 and 2022. The third focuses on the murder and attempted murder of 45 individuals during village clearance operations.
According to prosecutors, Duterte and his allies “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.”
Throughout, Duterte has refused to apologise for the bloody crackdown, which left over 6,000 officially recorded dead—though human rights activists argue the true toll could reach tens of thousands.
He has maintained that his campaign was necessary to purge the streets of drug-linked crime.
Duterte now holds the distinction of being the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC, and the first suspect transferred to The Hague in more than three years. He has been detained there since March.
His legal team insists he is unfit to face trial because of ill health. Yet in May, Duterte was re-elected as mayor of Davao from prison, with his son Sebastian, who had been in office since 2022, continuing as acting mayor.
Supporters of the former leader claim the ICC case is politically motivated, driven by his falling-out with current president Ferdinand Marcos.
The ICC, which relies on state cooperation for arrests, has often seen its warrants ignored, and Marcos himself had previously rejected the idea of working with the court.
