Former Philippine President arrested on ICC warrant over drug war killings

Upon arrival at Manila's main airport, Duterte received an Interpol arrest warrant and was taken into custody.

The “war on drugs” was the hallmark of Duterte's campaign, which brought the mayor and anti-crime activist to power in 2016. He fulfilled his promise to kill thousands of drug traffickers.

Duterte, 79, has repeatedly defended this crackdown. He has denied ordering the killings of drug suspects and said he instructed police to shoot only in self-defense.

The arrest follows years of Duterte's taunting of the International Criminal Court since he unilaterally withdrew the Philippines from the court's founding treaty in 2019 when the court opened an investigation into allegations of systematic extrajudicial executions under his rule.

Until last year, the Philippines refused to cooperate with investigations into crimes against humanity conducted by the International Criminal Court, which says it has jurisdiction to investigate incidents while the country is a member.

Killings in the slums

According to police, 6,200 suspects were killed in shootings during anti-drug operations. However, activists say that the real toll of the crackdown has been much higher: thousands of slum drug users, many of whom were on official “watch lists,” have been killed under mysterious circumstances.

The police deny any involvement in these killings and reject accusations by human rights groups of systematic executions and cover-ups.

Human Rights Watch called the arrest “a critical step for accountability in the Philippines” and said that the authorities should hand Duterte over to the International Criminal Court as soon as possible.

In 2017, Duterte paid visits to Vladimir Putin in Russia and Donald Trump in the United States.