Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, was arrested on March 11 in Manila, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity in his war on drugs in which, human rights groups say, tens of thousands of Filipinos were summarily executed, Report informs via The New York Times.
He was taken into custody at the airport in Manila after returning from a trip to Hong Kong, according to the Philippine government. Duterte’s lawyer, Salvador Panelo, said the arrest was unlawful, partly because the Philippines withdrew from the court while Duterte was in office.
Duterte, 79, who left office in 2022, is a populist firebrand who remains one of the Philippines’ most influential politicians, and he has enjoyed relative immunity despite several accusations against him in connection with his antidrug campaign.
But Duterte’s arrest could be a major step toward accountability for thousands of Filipinos who have long sought justice for their loved ones, many of whom were gunned down by police officers, hit men and vigilantes. Activists say the vast majority of victims were poor, urban Filipinos, some of whom were minors and people who had nothing to do with the drug trade.
At his final campaign rally that year, Duterte told the crowd to “forget the laws on human rights.”
“You drug pushers, holdup men and do-nothings, you better go out,” he said. “Because I’ll kill you.” He said he would give himself and his security forces immunity from prosecution and pardon himself “for the crime of multiple murder.”
While in office, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the I.C.C., which had begun looking into the extrajudicial killings.