ICC confirms murder charges against Duterte, paving the way for trial

Judges at the International Criminal Court confirmed all three counts of murder as crimes against humanity against former president Rodrigo Duterte.

In a statement on Thursday, April 23, the ICC said pre-trial judges "unanimously confirmed all the charges... against Rodrigo Roa Duterte and committed him to trial."

The judges said there were "substantial grounds" to believe Duterte, 81, played a key role in the murders of 76 people and the attempted murder of two others as part of his so-called "war on drugs," which prosecutors say killed thousands of civilians in the Philippines.

"The available evidentiary material shows the existence of a common plan between Mr. Duterte and his co-perpetrators to kill alleged criminals in the Philippines, including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale, or production, through violent crimes including murder," the court said.

Prosecutors have said Duterte created, funded, and armed death squads to target and kill suspected ​narcotics peddlers and ​users when he ⁠was in power between 2016 and 2022.

Duterte has long insisted he instructed police to kill only in ​self-defense and has always defended the crackdown.

In a statement, Duterte's counsel Nicholas Kaufman criticized the ICC's ruling and that the defense will contest the prosecution's evidence at trial.

 "The Pre-Trial Chamber found that the crucial word 'neutralize,' used to define a so-called State or organizational policy, was understood by those involved in the operations to mean to 'kill.' This is hardly surprising when the whole of the Prosecution’s case, as pasted into the concluding paragraphs of the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision, is based on the uncorroborated statements of vicious self-confessed murderers acting as cooperating witnesses. The credibility of these witnesses was never assessed at confirmation. They will now be excused prosecution and will most likely be rehoused with new identities at considerable cost to the international community funding the activities of the Office of the Prosecutor," he said.

"At trial, the Defense will prove that the aforementioned 'State policy' is a complete fiction. The Defense will also show that the evidence of the very same criminal witnesses, so gleefully peddled by the former President’s many detractors, has zero weight."

Appeals judges at the court on Wednesday, April 22, had dismissed a bid to throw out Duterte's trial and said the court had jurisdiction over the case.

In previous cases, it has taken the ICC up to a year between the confirmation of charges and the start of a trial.