×

ICC Prosecutors Charge Duterte With Three Counts Of Crimes Against Humanity

The charges against Duterte stem from his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed thousands.

By Channels Television
Updated September 22, 2025
Twitter
(FILES) Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte takes an oath as he attends a senate probe on the drug war during his administration, in Manila on October 28, 2024. Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, detained at the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, regained the mayorship of family stronghold Davao city in a landslide vote on May 12, 2025, an initial tally showed. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)

 

International Criminal Court prosecutors have charged former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.”

A heavily redacted charge sheet dated July 4 but only made public on Monday lays out the accusations against the 80-year-old former leader, currently sitting in ICC detention in The Hague.

The first count concerns his alleged involvement as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while Duterte was mayor of Davao City.

READ ALSO: Philippine Protest Arrests Leave Parents Seeking Answers

Protesters holding Filipino flags and a banner in support of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gather outside the The Hague Penitentiary Institution prison, which houses the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention unit, after a plane carrying Duterte landed landed in the Netherlands following his arrest on an ICC warrant tied to his deadly crackdown on drugs, in Scheveningen, on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Ramon van Flymen / ANP / AFP)

 

The second count relates to 14 murders of so-called “High Value Targets” in 2016 and 2017 when Duterte was president.

And the third charge is about 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers.

These took place across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018, the prosecution alleged.

“The actual scale of victimisation during the charged period was significantly greater, as reflected in the widespread nature of the attack,” said the ICC prosecutors.

“The attack included thousands of killings, which were perpetrated consistently throughout the charged period,” they alleged.

The charges against Duterte stem from his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed thousands.

The arrest warrant issued for Duterte on March 7 contained one charge of crimes against humanity relating to 43 alleged murders.

Then Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during the annual state of the nation address at the House of Representatives in Manila on July 26, 2023.
FILE: Then Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

 

The prosecutors’ charges came on the eve of what was scheduled to be Duterte’s appearance at the ICC to hear the accusations against him.

However that sitting was postponed as the court weighs whether Duterte is fit to hear the charges.

His lawyer Nicholas Kaufman has said his client is not able to stand trial “as a result of cognitive impairment in multiple domains”.

Kaufman has urged the ICC to postpone proceedings against Duterte indefinitely.

Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, flown to the Netherlands that same night and has been held at the ICC’s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison since.

At his initial hearing, he followed by video link, appearing dazed and frail, barely speaking.

More Stories