Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested after a warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC accused Duterte of crimes against humanity related to an anti-drug campaign.
Duterte was arrested upon his arrival in Hong Kong.
According to a translation, Duterte said during a March 9 event that the ICC has been “after me for a long time.”
“Whatever my sins may be, I did them to bring some peace and security to the Filipino people,” he said. “Assuming the accusations against me are true, then why did I do it? For me? For my family? I did it for you, and your children.”
Thousands of deaths are linked to the anti-drug campaign.
Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s former legal counsel, said the ICC has “no jurisdiction over the Philippines.”
According to the ICC, there is a “reasonable basis to believe that the Crime Against Humanity of Murder was committed from at least 1 July 2016 to 16 March 2019 in the context of the Philippine government’s ‘war on drugs’ (‘WoD’) campaign,” a 2021 document reads. “The total number of civilians killed in connection with the WoD between July 2016 and March 2019 appears to be between 12,000 and 30,000,” the document adds.
Human Rights Watch said in 2017 that “[n]o evidence thus far shows that Duterte planned or ordered specific extrajudicial killings, but his repeated calls for killings as part of his anti-drug campaign could constitute acts instigating law enforcement to commit murder.” The organization said Duterte’s statements could be “criminal incitement.”
