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Former Philippines president Duterte charged with crimes against humanity

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte is being held in a detention centre in the ICC in the Netherlands
Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte is being held in a detention centre in the ICC in the Netherlands

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has charged former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity.

Prosecutors for the court alleged that he was involved in at least 76 murders as part of his "war on drugs".

A heavily redacted charge sheet dated 4 July which was only made public yesterday lays out the accusations against the 80-year-old former leader, currently sitting in ICC detention in The Hague.

The first count concerns his alleged involvement as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while Mr Duterte was mayor of Davao City.

The second count relates to 14 murders of so-called "high value targets" in 2016 and 2017 when Mr Duterte was president.

And the third charge is about 43 murders committed during "clearance" operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers.

These took place across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018, the prosecution alleged.

"The actual scale of victimisation during the charged period was significantly greater, as reflected in the widespread nature of the attack," said the ICC prosecutors.

"The attack included thousands of killings, which were perpetrated consistently throughout the charged period," they added.


Read more: International Criminal Court confirms Duterte arrest warrant


The charges against Mr Duterte stem from his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed thousands.

The arrest warrant issued for Mr Duterte on 7 March contained one charge of crimes against humanity relating to 43 alleged murders.

The prosecutors' charges came on the eve of what was scheduled to be Mr Duterte's appearance at the ICC to hear the accusations against him.

However that sitting was postponed as the court weighs whether Mr Duterte is fit to hear the charges.

His lawyer Nicholas Kaufman has said his client is not able to stand trial "as a result of cognitive impairment in multiple domains".

Mr Kaufman has urged the ICC to postpone proceedings against Mr Duterte indefinitely.

Mr Duterte was arrested in Manila on 11 March, flown to the Netherlands that same night and has been held at the ICC's detention unit at Scheveningen Prison since.