“Online bashers have clearly demonstrated the continuing threat of a Duterte ‘hate’ network to families-victims as well as to witnesses of drug war killings."
The reason why Duterte withdrew from the ICC is to evade accountability. Now that he is in ICC’s custody, it is only right that the Philippines rejoin (ICC) for justice and accountability which is the long time call of the families of the victims of rights violations under the Duterte administration."
Activists demand accountability for Duterte's war on drugs, calling for conviction and justice for victims of extrajudicial killings.
Youth groups held Black Friday protest action outside Miriam College along Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City on Friday, March 14 in, supporting ICC’s arrest of Duterte and demanding justice for all victims of human rights violations. Sectoral and progressive groups joined the protest carrying their specific calls amidst Duterte arrest.
he International Criminal Court (ICC) said that Rodrigo Duterte's rights as an accused have been upheld, contrary to the claims by the former president's counsel Salvador Medialdea.
"The arrest is something, a message to the leaders that impunity is not forever."
UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor and Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard have emphasized the importance of this moment for the victims of Duterte's controversial "war on drugs," calling for further accountability and legal action. As Duterte prepares for his initial hearing on March 14, the international community has urged continued efforts to address ongoing human rights violations in the Philippines.
The Marcos Jr. administration now says it’s willing to sit down with the International Criminal Court to discuss “certain areas” of cooperation on the latter’s investigation, started in 2018, on former president Duterte’s “war on drugs.” The timeline goes back to the time he was Davao City mayor.
Jerrie Abella, an AI campaigner, detailed the three critical stages where human rights violations occur: during arrests, within drug detention centers, and post-release. Abella described so-called "drug rehabilitation centers" as punitive detention facilities where individuals, including adolescents, are subjected to invasive drug tests and forced treatment. These centers, he said, do not offer rehabilitation but instead serve as sites of coercion.
Karapatan said that the quadcomm hearings revealed the involvement of Duterte’s people in perpetrating human rights violations against activists and human rights defenders.
Former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares, who has represented the families of drug war victims and a counsel of complainants before the International Criminal Court (ICC), said that the testimony of Duterte exposes the narrative of “nanlaban” as false, rendering the police’s claim of self-defense obsolete.
“The victims, families, have to rely on their own resources. They did not receive any sort of help from the government, especially from the police,” said Ephraim Cortez, president of National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL).
The group said that Duterte is not only responsible for the thousands of drug-related killings but also for the summary execution of 422 political activists and the frustrated extrajudicial killing of 544 others.
In the first six months of the Marcos Jr administration, the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center documented 12 children killed. In 2023, 20 children died in Caloocan and Manila alone.
"If the 'war on drugs' were effective, the proliferation of illegal drugs would no longer be an issue. If domestic investigations were efficient, I wouldn't be here asking for help again."
“The GovPH argues that its criminal justice system generally functions well, and that certain administrative and other mechanisms may or can result in criminal proceedings. However, nothing in the observations nor in the hundreds of pages of associated annexes substantiates that criminal proceedings actually have been or are being conducted in anything more than a small number of cases."
“Withdrawal from the Rome Statute does not discharge a state party from the obligations it has incurred as a member. Consequently, liability for the alleged summary killings and other atrocities committed in the course of the war on drugs [during the Duterte administration] is not nullified or negated.”
“What can we expect from someone who has shamelessly branded victims of human rights violations — people who have been killed, disappeared, tortured, illegally arrested and detained, among others — during his father’s dictatorial rule as greedy people who are only after money?"
“Under the Rome Statute’s core principle of complementarity, States always have the first opportunity to investigate allegations of such crimes committed on their territory or by their nationals. However, when national authorities fail to act, the Court must step in, and that is why I have filed today’s application."
“Nothing could be further from the truth than claiming that domestic institutions and mechanisms of accountability in the country are ‘fully functional.’"
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