Former PH President Rodrigo Duterte to face ICC in The Hague

Duterte was arrested for crimes against humanity over extrajudicial drug killings

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte—the iron-fisted populist whose deadly anti-drug crackdowns prompted international outrage—on Tuesday, March 11 was arrested and extradited to the Netherlands, where he will face the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Through Interpol, the ICC ordered the arrest of Duterte, 79, on accusations of “crimes against humanity” for the extrajudicial drug killings that took place throughout his presidency.

Duterte was stopped at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday morning; he had just arrived from Hong Kong with his family.

In videos posted by Veronica Duterte, the former president’s other daughter, the ex-president challenged Prosecutor General Anthony Fadullon about his detention.

“What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?” Duterte said. “Show it to me now, the legal basis for my being here. As I, apparently, was brought here not of my own volition; it is somebody else’s.”

As reported in the Asian Journal throughout Duterte’s presidency—from 2016 to 2022—the former president oversaw a massive crackdown on illegal drugs, which led to vigilante killings of suspected drug peddlers and dealers.

The actual number of extrajudicial killings is uncertain, but the Philippine police confirmed the deaths of 6,248 individuals throughout Duterte’s presidency.

In Oct. 2024, Duterte said in a Senate inquiry that, when he was mayor of Davao, he had a “death squad of gangsters” on retainer to kill other criminals. These victims were largely alleged drug dealers, petty criminals and street children, according to a 2016 report from Reuters.

“I can make the confession now if you want,” Duterte told the Senate in October. “I had a death squad of seven, but they were not policemen. They were also gangsters. [I would] ask a gangster to kill somebody: ‘If you will not kill [them] I will kill you now.’”

But he denied that he authorized extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers by police as president.

As of press time, the plane carrying Duterte has left the Philippines and is en route to The Hague.