The In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity (iDEFEND) network hails the arrest of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte (“Duterte”) by the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) through the assistance of the International Criminal Police Organization (“INTERPOL”), as a defining moment in the history of international criminal justice in the Philippines. The arrest of Duterte is an enforcement of international law which acknowledged Duterte’s crimes against humanity, particularly his policy on the war on drugs, leading to the deaths of thousands of Filipinos.
While iDefend preferred that a united country could have brought this arrest into fruition, and that ideally Duterte should be prosecuted in the Philippines, it is unfortunate that the current political tension led to this opportunity. We note that Duterte was afforded, and continue to benefit from due process, but this was deprived from thousands of victims of extrajudicial killing and their families.
We call upon the Philippine government and the Department of Justice to pursue domestic accountability mechanisms against other high-ranking officials who supported, benefited, and in any other way involved in the formulation and implementation of the bloody war on drugs to attain justice for the thousands of victims of Duterte’s war on drugs and other human rights violations during Duterte’s regime.
The ICC’s work could not have been possible without the fortitude and determination of survivors and victims’ families to seek justice. They continue to suffer intimidation, threats and surveillance from state agents as well as stigma among their neighborhoods. iDefend stands with them all the way, until Duterte is convicted and put away for good. Finally the lessons of this arrest highlights the need for the Philippines to rejoin the ICC. This should be considered an election issue especially by those running for the highest offices in the country.
As a nation, let truth, accountability, and justice define our values once again. Let us support the International Criminal Court and the victims of the war on drugs.