Manila (AFP) – Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday in Manila by police acting on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs.
The 79-year-old faces a charge of “the crime against humanity of murder”, according to the ICC, for a crackdown that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.
“Early in the morning, Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC,” the presidential palace said in a statement.
“As of now, he is under the custody of authorities.”
The statement added that “the former president and his group are in good health and are being checked by government doctors”.
Duterte’s former chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, called the arrest “unlawful”.
“The (Philippine National Police) didn’t allow one of his lawyers to meet him at the airport and to question the legal basis for PRRD’s arrest,” he said, adding a hard copy of the ICC warrant had not been provided.
But a group that worked to support mothers of those killed in Duterte’s drugs crackdown called the arrest a “very welcome development”.
“The mothers whose husbands and children were killed because of the drug war are very happy because they have been waiting for this for a very long time,” Rubilyn Litao, coordinator for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, told AFP.
Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, called on the government of President Ferdinand Marcos to “swiftly surrender (Duterte) to the ICC”, saying the arrest was a “critical step for accountability in the Philippines”.
Dude is the former president of a country of over a hundred million people and has murdered tens of thousands of people, some of them with his own hands.
You need to get a fucking grip if you think arresting him for his many crimes against humanity is “picking on the little guy”! 🤦
He was and did. Now he’s not. Therefore, they only went after him now that he’s weak and powerless to stop them.
Please go away with your bullshit as I’ll go away with mine.
Pointless posturing…
Yeah, because waiting until it can be done without having to basically declare war on the Philippines is TOTALLY picking on a poor widdle defenseless boy!
I guess you were against the Nuremberg trials too? After all, those Nazis were no longer in power at that point and were thus “the little guy” 🙄
I’m against waiting. Everyone is waiting.
Patience is not my virtue.
Are you against dictators or their henchmen declaring war on the ICC and by extension the UN? Because that’s what would have happened if they’d tried to arrest him at the height of his powers.
I don’t disagree that Putin and Netanyahu need to be arrested too btw, but that’s a separate issue from pretending that arresting a recent dictator for his many crimes against humanity is “picking on the little guy”.
Oh my. The United Nations acting like a bunch of united nations and fighting against dictators commiting crimes against humanity and killing tens of thousands of people? How unthinkable!
Best instead to do nothing and let the dictators genocide in peace, destroy countries one by one and then maybe, just maybe have someone pick them up from their retirement home for a trial after everything is said and done.
How’s that working out for Ukraine and other countries like it again?
You know what? Fuck this. You clearly don’t know how ANYTHING works and don’t WANT to know, so I’m not gonna waste any more time and effort on you.
Have the day you deserve.
Took me only two comments to realize this is just a troll.
Thank you. And you have a happy day to offset this small, but impactful interaction!
Only consider that how anything works and things should work can be two very different things. Don’t get too used to how anything works in human interaction. We, the humans, still get to decide those as long as we’re willing.
Kind of weird to oppose the many victims a taste of justice just because it takes place in South America and it happened 20 years ago. That’s still reasonably within people’s lifetimes and it does bring people closure in ways you can’t imagine. I don’t understand how that’s posturing. Also, of course they’re going after him when he’s vulnerable. Do you really want the Interpol to march down to dictators’ doors at the peak of their power? How would they do it? Although they do issue arrest warrants during their reign in case they carelessly waltz into the wrong territory.
The taste of justice is bitter and dusty, old and decayed. Those that want it should have it, but it tastes better when it’s fresh.
Well, we do posthumous exonerations and such. People need closure regardless. I’m still wondering at what point does the Interpol intervenes and how.
I’d say the Interpol is a diverse organization adapting to the needs of the countries that comprise it. Likely they’re more fluid in their interventions, depending on diplomatic relations and backdoor maneuvering. What they need to do and what they’re allowed to do often doesn’t match.
Hmm, I was imagining something more actionable and tangible than “be more fluid”.
I feel like this is possibly part of the reason why it’s only happening now.
I’d say the same. And i know they’re not at fault, I’m just venting. Everyone does what they can, as little as that may seem at times.