Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been taken to a pre–trial detention facility in The Hague. This was reported in the press service of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Duterte “was admitted today after passing all medical checks,” the ICC said. The former president, who is suspected of crimes against humanity, arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday after being arrested in Manila. The court argues that it has reasonable grounds to believe that Duterte, who was in power in 2016-2022, bears individual responsibility and is indirectly complicit in a number of murders committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019 in the context of the so-called war on drugs. The ICC Prosecutor’s Office launched a full-fledged investigation into the situation in the Philippines on September 15, 2021. According to the results of the investigation, she concluded that as part of the campaign conducted by the authorities, from 12 thousand to 30 thousand people were killed for using or selling drugs, and some of the incidents allegedly could have been killings without trial and investigation committed during police operations. In March 2018, during Duterte’s presidency, the Philippines decided to withdraw from the ICC and submitted a corresponding application to the UN, which entered into force a year later. The Court considers that it retains jurisdiction over crimes committed while the country was a member.
