Rodrigo Duterte, Philippine President from 2016 to 2022, said on Wednesday March 12, assume “His responsibilities” Upon his arrival in the Netherlands, where he was given to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to respond to alleged crimes. These took place as part of the war against drugs.
The ICC considers that there are “Reasonable patterns” to believe that Mr. Duterte has committed a crime against humanity, the murder, as “Indirect co -author”during a campaign against narcotics. It has made tens of thousands of deaths, according to human rights organizations.
“I am the one who managed the police and the army. I said that I will protect you and I assume my responsibilities ”said Duterte in a Shared video on social networkswhile he was preparing to land in the Netherlands. “I told the police, the army, that it was my work and that I was responsible”continued the 79 -year -old man, the first former Asian Head of State to be charged by the ICC. The Court confirmed that Mr. Duterte had been given to him after arriving in Rotterdam by plane.
A vehicle apparently carrying Mr. Duterte entered the CPI detention center in The Hague, passing a crowd of dozens of supporters, some shouting: “Return it” and waving Filipino flags. They denounce an irregular procedure and an abduction of the former president, still very popular in the Philippines. A first appearance in front of the ICC should take place in the coming days.
End of impunity in the Philippines
Addressing the agency France-Presse before the court, Gilbert Andres, lawyer representing the victims of the war against drugs, said that his customers “Are very grateful to God, because their prayers have been granted”. “The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is a strong signal for international criminal justice. This means that no one is above the laws (…) There will be a day justice for all (…) even for powerful men like Rodrigo Duterte »added Mr. Andres.
Before the departure of her father, the current vice-president, Sara Duterte, said he was “Taken by Force to The Hague”qualifying this transfer of“Oppression and persecution”. A time expected to succeed her father, Sara Duterte withdrew in favor of Ferdinand Marcos, son of the autocrat of the same name, to whom she allied, before being appointed to the vice-president. But the alliance between the two dynasties recently implodged, as the mid-term elections are approaching. The Senate must now decide on the fate of the leader, notably accused of having wanted to foment an assassination of the Head of State.
“Duterte is lucky, he benefits from a regular procedure” while“There was no lawsuit for my son”deplored Emily Soriano about his son Angelito, during a press conference organized by a local human rights association in Manila on Wednesday. “He will be lying in a good bed, my son is already rotting in the cemetery”she continued.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, described the arrest as “Not very important” towards the quest for justice for “Thousands of victims of murders”. China, for its part, called the ICC to “Avoid both weights, two measurements” And “All politicization”.
The formidable “death squads”
This highly publicized affair comes when the ICC is under the sanctions of the American president, Donald Trump, unhappy with the arrest warrant issued against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, for alleged crimes committed during the war in the Gaza Strip.
The memorable world
Test your general culture with the writing of the “world”
Test your general culture with the writing of the “world”
Discover
The jurisdiction of the jurisdiction, Karim Khan, said that the execution of the arrest warrant against Mr. Duterte was “Important for victims” and prove that “International law is not as weak as some might think”.
On the initiative of Mr. Duterte, the Philippines left, in 2019, the ICC but it maintained its competence with regard to the murders which occurred before this withdrawal, as well as for those committed in the city of Davao, at the time when Mr. Duterte was the mayor.
The ICC declared in its arrest warrant that there were “Reasonable reasons for believing” that at least nineteen people had been murdered in Davao by members of the“Davao death squadron”led by M. Duterte. At least twenty-four people were also killed by the Philippine police in various places, according to this mandate.
Among the victims of Mr. Duterte are also journalists – at least twenty were killed during his mandate, According to Reporters Without Borders – and a Spanish citizen who lived in the Philippines, Diego Bellovictim of an extrajudicial execution on the tourist island of Siargao and which had no connection with the world of drugs, According to Spanish press surveys.