– It always goes beyond the little man. This was the short sentence a Filipino woman used to describe Rodrigo Duta’s “war on drugs”. What she thought was that the big backers escape. When I asked her a few years ago, Duterte was still president. Now with duted in custody in The Hague, it may seem like a “big man” is held accountable. The question is whether this is about justice or whether it is something else? Duterte is being investigated for crimes against humanity. According to the government in the Philippines, 6,000 people were killed in the “war on drugs”. Philippines former President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: AP/NTB The real figure is far higher. Up to 30,000 according to human rights groups. There are three issues that are important for understanding the trial that will now start in The Hague. Who is Rodrigo Duterte? What is the “war on drugs”? And when the Philippines is no longer a member of the International Criminal Court. Why was he arrested now? “Dutert Harry” Rodrigo Duterte started “The War on Drugs” as mayor of the Philippines’ third largest city, Davao. Big demonstrations in The Hague. Some in support of dutte, while others in support of killed in the war against drugs. Photo: Omar Havana / AP / NTB From 1988 he ruled Davao for seven periods. Even then, charges came that legal principles were set aside. Small criminals and longer were liquidated. Duterte’s men took no prisoners. Duterte was nicknamed “Duterte Harry” after Clint Eastwood’s role as a policeman in the films on “Dirty Harry”. Innocent in the wrong place at the wrong time was shot and killed. Several of them killed were drug addicts and street children, according to human rights activists. The criticism barked at the populist Duterte. When he aimed at the capital, Manila and the presidential job, he promised to keep the same “war” over the entire Philippines. – Forget human rights. If I get to the presidential palace, I will do exactly what I did as mayor. Drugs, street and you who have nothing good in yeast, it’s best you stick! Because I wanted to kill you, said Duterte before the 2016 election. Duterte shows off a rifle during an official ceremony at the Fillipines in 2018. Photo: Noel Celis / AFP / NTB During the years Duterte set as President got his “death squadrons” free reins. In a photo report as early as 2016, the New York Times documented 57 killings or liquidations in 35 days. The government in the Philippines has never admitted murder or liquidations outside the law. The official version is that everyone was killed in shooting exchanges. This despite the fact that many were not killed by the police, but shot by hired young men. They could get up past their victim on a light motorcycle and then disappear in the night while the dead body was left on the street. An assumed drug criminal has been shot in Duterte’s war on drugs. Photo: Aaron Favila / AP / NTB subsequently, the killers have been police officers or men on motorcycles being protected by the system. In 2016, policemen stormed into Mary Ann Domingo’s small apartment. They shot her son and cohabitant. In a rare judgment, a judge stated that the four policemen who participated in the action were guilty of murder. They are still not imprisoned. Even after Duterte was arrested on Tuesday and sent to The Hague, Mary Ann Domingo finds little comfort. – I don’t feel that justice has happened. – Duterte shows no remorse, says the woman to the New York Times. Mary Ann Domingo (s), holds portraits of her deceased husband and son during the trial in Manila on June 18. Photo: Ted Aljibe / AFP / NTB Why was Duterte arrested now? In 2019, Duterte Philippines withdrew from the International Criminal Court (ICC). In other words, it was not obvious that the Philippines would arrest and deliver Rodrigo Duterte. However, the Court believes that it can prosecute Duterte because the arrest order is based on consumes between 2011 and 2019. At that time, the Philippines was still a member of the International Court. The plane that carried Duterte to The Hague takes off at the Manila airport. Photo: Aaron Favila / AP / NTB as late as a few months ago, however, the current president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. express that the authorities would not follow up an arrest warrant. The vice president of the Philippines and Marco’s deputy is Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte. When the Arrest Order ticked into the office of President Marcos on Tuesday morning, it was still under a day before Rodrigo Duterte sat on the plane to The Hague. The arrest warrant first came from the Court in The Hague, then a few hours later from the Interpol that the court had asked for help in arresting Duterte. Unlike the ICC, the Philippines is a member of Interpol. On Friday he meets in the court. Duterte puts in court at 14. The hearing is expected to be broadcast with 30 minutes delay, according to NTB. The International Criminal Court in The Hague. Photo: Jerry Lampen / Reuters / NTB swept between powerful families Sara Duterte and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. entered an alliance before the election in 2022. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Is the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The cooperation between the two powerful political families began to crack after a short time. Sara Duterte has said she wants to cut her head by Marcos Jr. She has and threatened to dig up his dead father and throw the removal at sea. Sara Duterte during a press conference in Manila, the Phillipines. Photo: Basilio SEPE / AP / NTB Quietly, it seems that Marcos already in 2023 let investigators from the International Criminal Court came to the Philippines to question the Philippines. According to Philippine media, several of Duterte’s second -in -command in the “War on Drugs” should now be willing to witness the former President of The Hague. Sara Duterte is more popular on measurements than the sitting president and supporters of Marcos Jr. Has fronted a court case against the Vice President. A judgment against her father in The Hague will be able to weaken her politically and help Marcos Jr. with getting rid of Sara Duterte before the next election in 2028. The Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Photo: Jam Sta Rosa / AFP / NTB Many roads to The Hague Sara Duterte Travel now also to The Hague. Here she will help her almost 80 -year -old father put together the team by lawyers to defend him. Although power struggle and not requirements for justice may be what brought Duterte to The Hague, the case is important for the International Criminal Court (ICC). Rodrigo Duterte is the first former head of state from Asia to be held accountable for crimes against humanity in the ICC. “This is justice regardless of how we got to this point,” said the Philippine journalist and the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Ressa. Lighting in a church in Manila in memory of victims of the violence of the phillippines. Photo: Ted Aljibe / AFP / NTB Published 14.03.2025, at. 12.43
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