Duterte heads to The Hague to face ICC charges

Estimates of the death toll during Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 to 30,000

The Hague: Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was being flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday to face an International Criminal Court charge of crimes against humanity linked to the deadly crackdown on drugs he oversaw while in office.

The 79-year-old Duterte’s arrest on Tuesday on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) hailed by human rights groups and families of victims as a major breakthrough and step toward ending impunity.

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Flight tracking data showed that after leaving Manila, the jet carrying Duterte waited for hours in Dubai before taking off again, apparently headed for Rotterdam The Hague Airport.

The court didn’t immediately comment on the flight, but Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Tuesday that police arrested Duterte when he returned from a trip to Hong Kong and sent him to the ICC. When he arrives in the Netherlands, he will be taken to the court’s detention unit inside a Dutch prison complex near the North Sea coast.

Rights groups and families of victims welcomed the arrest. Duterte’s supporters, however, criticized his arrest as illegal and sought to have him returned home.

The ICC opened an inquiry in 2021 into mass killings linked to the so-called war on drugs overseen by Duterte when he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president.

Estimates of the death toll during Duterte’s presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported and up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.