Philippines' Duterte Charged With 3 Counts of Crimes Against Humanity

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors have charged former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his controversial “war on drugs.”

A heavily redacted charge sheet dated July 4 but only made public on Monday details the accusations against the 80-year-old former leader, currently held at the ICC’s detention unit in The Hague.

The first count concerns his alleged role as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders between 2013 and 2016, when Duterte was mayor of Davao City. The second relates to 14 killings of so-called “High Value Targets” in 2016 and 2017, during his presidency. The third charge involves 43 murders committed in “clearance” operations against lower-level drug suspects across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018.

Prosecutors said the actual scale of killings was “significantly greater,” citing thousands of deaths carried out as part of a widespread and systematic campaign.

The ICC arrest warrant issued on March 7 initially contained one count of crimes against humanity over 43 alleged murders. Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, flown to the Netherlands the same night, and has been in custody at Scheveningen Prison since.

His appearance at the ICC to hear the charges was postponed after his lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, argued that Duterte suffers from “cognitive impairment in multiple domains” and is unfit to stand trial. At his initial hearing by video link, he appeared frail and spoke little.