The arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte as he stepped off a flight from Hong Kong on to his home turf in Manila was a sign that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has not been sidetracked by US sanctions or criticism by the Trump White House.
Instead, Duterte’s detention in a UN jail cell in The Hague on Wednesday evening was a sign that the court – established in 2002 to end impunity for mankind’s most heinous crimes – has retained its capacity to act with vigour when the opportunity presents itself.
It was also indicative of the complex geopolitical, local and operational challenges faced by the court, which has no enforcement arm of its own when pursuing a high-value international fugitive.
In the case of Duterte – wanted for crimes against humanity for his blunderbuss “war” on drugs, first as mayor of Davao city and later as president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, which may have cost as many as 30,000 lives – finding him was by no means the problem.
Known as “Asia’s Trump” for his overblown rhetoric and unorthodox style, he repeatedly taunted the ICC, challenging its prosecutor to “hurry up” and “move” on him.
As president, Duterte himself withdrew the Philippines from membership of the ICC in 2019.
Under its withdrawal mechanism, however, the court retains retrospective criminal jurisdiction over the period during which a state was a signatory.
Even so, Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand Marcos jnr, equally signalled that he was no friend of the ICC because, in his view, it posed an unacceptable challenge to national sovereignty.
At the start of this year, however, relations between the Marcos and Duterte families deteriorated.
This was at least partly due to a series of tirades by Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio – elected the country’s vice-president in 2002. In one instance she claimed she had hired an assassin to kill Marcos.
So when Interpol contacted the Marcos regime days ago to say it planned to execute an ICC arrest warrant against Duterte, Marcos changed tack dramatically and decided: “Interpol has asked for help and we have commitments to Interpol which we must fulfil.”
The 15-page ICC warrant, issued on March 7th, charges Duterte with 49 counts of murder as a crime against humanity.
It says ICC judges believe there are reasonable grounds to conclude that Duterte was the head of the notorious Davao Death Squad – and as president later controlled all law enforcement.
It describes “a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population of the Philippines” targeting alleged criminals, especially those believed to be involved in drug trafficking.
“The attack took place over several years and thousands of people appear to have been killed”, it says.
Duterte is alleged to have offered “financial incentives and promotions” to police officers and used “hitmen” to kill suspects, promised immunity to perpetrators and shielded them from prosecution.
After a stopover in Dubai, the plane carrying Duterte (79) landed at Rotterdam Airport on Wednesday just before 5.30pm.
He was transferred by coach to the UN detention unit at Scheveningen Prison, near ICC headquarters.
Vice-president Duterte-Carpio is understood to be en route by commercial flight to co-ordinate legal advice for her father.
It remains possible that Duterte will challenge the legitimacy of the warrant and therefore the legality of his arrest in Manila.
He may do that using the ICC principle of complementarity under which the court may only prosecute where the local criminal system is unwilling or unable to do so. Duterte has repeatedly insisted he was willing to face the Philippine courts.
