The Hague-based court is investigating mass murders related to Duterte’s so-called war on drugs.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in The Hague Wednesday after being arrested on an International Criminal Court (ICC) order in Manila the previous day.
He faces charges of crimes against humanity related to the fatal drug crackdown he overseen during his tenure.
Police arrested Duterte at the Manila airport and returned from a trip to Hong Kong and boarded a plane to Dubai. Flight tracking data showed the jets wait hours in Dubai before taking off towards Rotterdam, the Hague airport.
The Philippine media posted photos showing what they say on a plane on their way to the Netherlands.
Upon arrival, Duterte will be taken to a Dutch prison on the outskirts of the Hague in Scheveningen, which includes a special UN prison complex about two kilometers from the ICC.
Other prisoners stayed there include former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Liberian Charles Taylor and Bosnia-Serbian-Serbian-Serbian-Serbian-Serbian-General Ratko Muradic.
Both protesters and supporters of the former Philippine president gathered in front of the ICC on Wednesday.
One protester, Arodic Santos, admitted the pain of those affected by the ICC decision, but she said she believes it is the right thing to do.
“It’s a very emotional experience for people. Politics has been a personality-driven process like domestic patronage for a long time. Yeah, we’re all Filipinos at the end of the day. So it hurts us. But we have to endure the principles that we all personally believe,” Santos said.
Mass killing under the name “War on Drugs”
In 2021, the ICC launched an investigation into the so-called war-related mass murders with drugs, which Duterte was overseen when he served as mayor of the Southern Philippines city of Davao and later president.
Duterte’s estimates of deaths during his presidency differ from over 6,000, the national police reported to a maximum of 30,000 people claimed by human rights groups.
Examining the evidence from the prosecution in favour of the request for arrest, the ICC judge found it to be “a reasonable basis for believing that Duterte is individually responsible for the crimes of murder against humanity.”
Duterte says he withdraws the Philippines from the ICC in 2019, with human rights activists aiming to escape accountability.
The Duterte administration suspended the World Court’s investigation in late 2021 by asserting that Philippine authorities were already considering the same claim, claiming that the ICC (the last resort court) had no jurisdiction.
The ICC appeals judge rejected these arguments and determined that the investigation could resume in 2023.
Within days of being detained at the court’s detention centre, Duterte will be taken to court for trial.
The judge will verify his identity, make sure he understands the charges against him, and sets the date of the hearing known as confirmation of charges, which will assess whether the prosecutor has sufficient evidence to send him to full trial.
Duterte may challenge the jurisdiction of the court and the acceptability of the case. The Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, but it was suspected of a crime before Manila withdrew from the court.
The process likely takes months, and if the case goes to court, it can take years. Duterte can apply for interim release from the court’s detention center while he waits, but it will be up to the judge to decide whether to grant such a request.
