The International Criminal Court (ICC) Tuesday arrested former Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte in connection with a case of crimes against humanity filed against him, the country’s government said.
Duterte who ruled the Philippines between 2016-2022 was arrested by the police at the Manila airport as he arrived from a trip to Hong Kong. During his reign first as a Mayor in Manila and then President, Duterte cracked down on drug addicts and traffickers; about 6,200 people were extrajudicially killed during the campaign.
it was not immediately clear where the police took Duterte. The government said the 79-year-old former leader was in good health and was examined by government doctors.
The ICC began investigating drug killings under Duterte from 1 November 2011, when he was still mayor of the southern city of Davao, to 16 March 2019, as possible crimes against humanity.
Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the Rome Statute in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability.
The Duterte administration moved to suspend the global court’s investigation in late 2021 by arguing that Philippine authorities were already looking into the same allegations, arguing the ICC — a court of last resort — didn’t have jurisdiction.
Appeals judges at the ICC ruled in 2023 that the investigation could resume and rejected the Duterte administration’s objections.
Based in The Hague, the ICC can step in when countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute suspects in the most heinous international crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
