Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have charged former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity over killings linked to his deadly “war on drugs.”
A redacted charge sheet, dated July 4, but released on Monday, alleges Duterte’s involvement in at least 76 murders. The 80-year-old former leader is currently detained at the ICC facility in The Hague.
The first count covers 19 killings in Davao City between 2013 and 2016, when Duterte served as mayor. The second relates to 14 murders of “High Value Targets” during his presidency in 2016 and 2017. The third accuses him of responsibility for 43 killings during drug “clearance” operations across the Philippines from 2016 to 2018.
Prosecutors said the deaths represented only a fraction of the campaign’s toll, noting “thousands of killings were perpetrated consistently” during the period.
Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11 and flown to the Netherlands the same night. At his first video-linked hearing, he appeared frail and spoke little. His lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, claims he is unfit to stand trial due to cognitive impairment and has asked the court to postpone proceedings indefinitely.
The charges come as the ICC prepares to decide whether Duterte can face trial for the killings that rights groups say number in the thousands.