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Posts tagged as “crimes against humanity”

GMA News: ICC confirms charges against Rodrigo Duterte, commits ex-President to trial  

April 23, 2026

Joahna Lei Casilao, reporting for GMA News;

In a 50-page document, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I committed Duterte to face trial on the charges as confirmed, and ordered the court registrar to transmit the decision confirmation of charges and the record of these proceedings.

The confirmed charges are the following:
Count 1: Murder as a crime against humanity in Davao City during the mayoral period of at least the 19 victims, between 2013 and around June 2016, through indirect co-perpetration, ordering and/or inducing, and/or aiding and abetting;

Count 2: Murder as a crime against humanity of ‘high-value targets’ in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period of at least the 14 victims between around July 2016 and July 2017, through indirect co-perpetration, and/or ordering and/or inducing and/or 25(3)(c) (aiding and abetting); and

Count 3: Murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity in barangay clearance operations in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period of at least the 45 victims (43 murders and two attempted murders) between around July 2016 and September 2018, through indirect co-perpetration, ordering and/or inducing, and/or aiding and abetting.

From ICC;

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THE CHARGES ARE CONFIRMED?
If the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber finds that there is sufficient evidence to support the charges against Mr Duterte, it will commit the case against Mr Duterte to trial. The Presidency of the Court will constitute a Trial Chamber responsible for conducting the subsequent phase of the proceedings and composed of three judges other than those who sat on the Pre-Trial bench.

Promptly after it is constituted, the Trial Chamber will hold status conferences, confer with the parties and participants, in order to set the date of the trial and adopt the procedures necessary to facilitate the fair and expeditious conduct of the proceedings. The Chamber will rule on several preliminary issues, including the language(s) to be used at trial, and the timing and the manner of disclosure of evidence.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing took place from 23 to 27 February 2026. Duterte’s confirmation of charges comes out days after International Criminal Court (ICC) upheld its jurisdiction over the crimes against humanity case filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte and while VP Sara Duterte impeachment is on going.

ABS-CBN: ICC upholds jurisdiction over Duterte case  

April 22, 2026

Katrina Domingo, reporting for ABS-CBN News;

The International Criminal Court (ICC) upheld its jurisdiction over the crimes against humanity case filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte after the tribunal’s Appeals Chamber on Wednesday junked petitions to halt proceedings against the Philippines’ 16th president.

In its April 22 decision, the Appeals Chamber ruled that while the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in March 2019, preliminary examinations on the situation in the Philippines started in February 2018, a year before the Duterte administration sent a formal notice to pull back from the treaty governing the ICC.

A majority of the Appeals Chamber rejected all four grounds raised by the defense where it argued that the Pre-Trial Chamber had committed errors in law in ruling that the ICC has jurisdiction over the Duterte case.

Having rejected the appeal, it said the related request for Duterte’s immediate release is moot.

This is big… as in big that the Duterte camp needs to shift their strategy, since the court (ICC) has effectively removed the final major legal obstacle preventing the case from moving toward a full trial and the case has a high probability of going to a full trial.

ICC charges Former President Rodrigo Duterte with 3 counts of murder with crimes against humanity

September 25, 2025

International Criminal Court (ICC) has charge Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte with 3 counts of murder with crimes against humanity, spanning from his time as the Mayor of Davao City until his time as the President of the Philippines.

BBC:

The first count laid against Mr Duterte concerns his alleged involvement in the killings of 19 people in Davao City between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor there.

The other two charges relate to times when he was serving as president of the Philippines, between 2016 and 2022, and launched his so-called war on drugs.

The second count relates to the murders of 14 “high-value targets” across the country, while the third relates to the murder and attempted murder of 45 people in village clearance operations.

Now that the ICC has charged Duterte with murder, the ball is now in Duterte’s court, and the next course of action will be decided by his defense team.

You can read the full text of ICC’s charges here.

Watch Former-President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte first appearance at the ICC

March 16, 2025

On 10 February 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC applied for an arrest warrant against Mr Duterte for the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape. The Chamber assessed the material submitted by the Prosecution and found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Duterte is individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.

The warrant of arrest against Mr Duterte was issued by the Chamber as “Secret” on 7 March 2025 and reclassified as “Public” on 11 March 2025. On 12 March 2025, Mr Duterte was surrendered to the International Criminal Court after being arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines in accordance with the warrant of arrest. He is currently in ICC custody.

The Philippines, an ICC State Party since 1 November 2011, deposited a written notification of withdrawal from the Statute on 17 March 2018. Under article 127 of the Statute, that withdrawal took effect on 17 March 2019. Nevertheless, the ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed in the Philippines while the country was a State Party to the Statute.

For the sake of transparency, ICC made all documents available online including the Warrant of Arrest, so we can be informed on all the things that the ICC is doing.

The Pre-Trial concluded by stating that the confirmation of charges hearing to begin on 23 September 2025.