Rodrigo Duterte joins the ranks of war criminals and dictators after his arrest following a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over his violent war on drugs that killed thousands of Filipinos during his term as Philippine president and Davao City mayor.
The Presidential Communications Office confirmed on Tuesday, March 11, that the government had received from the Interpol an official copy of a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court against the former president. Upon his arrival from Hong Kong, Duterte was presented by the Prosecutor General the ICC notification for an arrest over crimes against humanity.
The ICC warrant comes after almost nine years since the tribunal first took notice of the bloodshed under Duterte’s flagship campaign that led to almost 30,000 deaths, including those killed vigilante-style. The warrant was received by the Manila office of the Interpol — an organization that relies on its member-countries for the arrest of wanted criminals.
According to the ICC website, there are at least 31 individuals with active warrants of arrests and are currently at large. Overall, judges already issued 60 arrest warrants throughout the court’s two-decade existence — 21 have been detained or appeared before the court, while seven already died.
The saber-rattling Duterte — who relentlessly ordered killings of Filipinos from the presidential pulpit from 2016 to 2022 — is the latest former leader to be issued an arrest warrant by the ICC.
At least four other individuals with existing arrest warrants from the ICC were either sitting or former leaders of their governments at the time of issuance. These include two current leaders — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin — while the others are former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and Saif Gaddafi, son of Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing an arrest warrant over alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes carried out between October 8, 2023 and May 20, 2024, in relation to the conflict happening in Gaza, Palestine.
The ICC said that judges found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant are criminally responsible and are co-perpetrators of “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.” They are also found to bear “criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”
These warrants were classified as secret to protect witnesses and ongoing proceedings. The ICC chamber, however, said that it is “in the interest of the victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant against Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, aside from the Israeli officials, in relation to the mass killings in October 2023, among others.
Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin is the subject of an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These incidents were allegedly committed in February 2022, although the ICC has been investigating crimes that happened since 2013.
The charges against Putin stem from the “war crime of unlawful deportation of [children] and that of unlawful transfer of [children] from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
The ICC said that Putin played a direct role in authorizing these crimes, adding that his individual criminal responsibility also stems from “his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility.”
Aside from Putin, the ICC also issued a warrant of arrest against Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova in relation to the same charges.
The warrants were initially kept confidential to protect those involved in the investigation, but the court later ruled that disclosure was necessary as they are “mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes.”
Omar Al-Bashir
Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed during the conflict in Darfur between 2003 and 2008. His charges are linked to the mass killings, rapes, torture, and pillaging, among others, that were carried out as part of a five-year counter-insurgency campaign by the Sudanese government against opposition armed groups starting April 2003. Most of the victims belonged to the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa groups.
The ICC chamber found al-Bashir to be “suspected of having coordinated the design and implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign” and that there are reasonable grounds to believe that he was “in control of all branches” of the Sudanese government.
The arrest warrants — issued in 2009 and 2010 — marked the first time the court pursued a sitting head of state for genocide. Al-Bashir, however, remained in power until his regime was toppled in 2019. He was eventually captured and has been detained in military prison since then.
There were a total of seven warrants of arrest issued by the ICC on crimes that occurred in Darfur since 2002. Four individuals, including al-Bashir, remain at large.
Saif Gaddafi
The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the 2011 uprising against his father’s rule.
The charges stem from the violent crackdown on protesters and opposition forces, which resulted in widespread killings, arbitrary detentions, and persecution. As the de facto prime minister at the time, he played a key role in his father’s efforts to suppress dissent. ICC judges found reasonable grounds to believe that he was directly involved in orchestrating violence against the civilian population.
“Although not having an official position, [Saif] is [Muammar]’s unspoken successor and the most influential person within his inner circle and, as such, he exercised control over crucial parts of the State apparatus, including finances and logistics,” the ICC pre-trial chamber said in a case briefing, adding that the elder Gaddafi “in coordination with his inner circle, including Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, conceived a plan to deter and quell, by all means, the civilian demonstrations against the regime, and that both of them made an essential contribution to implement that plan.”
The arrest warrant was issued in June 2011. His father was also issued a warrant at the same time, but he was captured and executed by opposition forces months later in October 2011.
Saif, meanwhile, was captured while attempting to flee the country. He was tried in absentia for war crimes by a Tripoli court and sentenced to death in 2015. The death sentence was never carried out, and he was eventually released and granted full amnesty in 2017. He attempted to run for Libyan president in 2021, but the election was postponed and has yet to take place. – Rappler.com