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Duterte Played Central Role in Drug War Killings, ICC Prosecutors Claim

The court’s deputy prosecutor said that the former Philippine leader was “at the very heart” of a plan to “neutralize alleged criminals, including through murder.”

Judges and legal counsel participate in the first confirmation of charges hearings at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 23, 2026.

Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, was responsible for committing a “widespread and systematic attack” on the country’s people, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) argued yesterday.

In March, the 80-year-old former leader was arrested in Manila on an ICC arrest warrant and transferred to the custody of the court in The Hague. He faces three charges of crimes against humanity for extrajudicial killings carried out during his violent “war on drugs” campaign, a flagship policy of his administration between 2016 and 2022, as well as during his earlier tenure as mayor of Davao in the southern Philippines.

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Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, was responsible for committing a “widespread and systematic attack” on the country’s people, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) argued yesterday.

In March, the 80-year-old former leader was arrested in Manila on an ICC arrest warrant and transferred to the custody of the court in The Hague. He faces three charges of crimes against humanity for extrajudicial killings carried out during his violent “war on drugs” campaign, a flagship policy of his administration between 2016 and 2022, as well as during his earlier tenure as mayor of Davao in the southern Philippines.

The ICC yesterday opened “confirmation of charges” hearings, which will take place over four days, to determine whether there is enough evidence against Duterte to proceed to a trial.

In his opening statement, ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang alleged that Duterte was “at the very heart” of a plan to “neutralize alleged criminals, including through murder.” The prosecutor accused Duterte, who did not attend yesterday’s hearing, of wielding “ultimate influence and authority” over the perpetrators of drug crackdowns, of authorizing the killing of alleged drug suspects and selecting some of the targets personally. He also allegedly promised immunity to perpetrators and gave them financial support, Niang added.

The first of the three counts against Duterte concerns his alleged involvement as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016, when he was mayor of Davao City. The second relates to 14 murders of so-called “high value targets” after he became president in 2016 and 2017. The third charge covers 43 murders committed during operations against alleged low-level drug users or pushers across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018.

Niang said this represents just a small proportion of those killed during Duterte’s “war on drugs.” Philippine police put the death toll at 6,200, but independent estimates range up to as many as 30,000. Most of these were drug users and low-level drug dealers, but the victims also included innocents who were caught in the crossfire.

“Many of these victims were children,” Niang told the court. “The victims of extrajudicial killing charges were brutally murdered, some after being abducted and mistreated. The loss of every single one of these victims had the most profound impact on their families, their friends and their communities.”

The ICC case officially deals with crimes committed between Duterte’s inauguration in 2016 and March 2019, when he pulled the Philippines out of the ICC. It also addresses killings that took place during Duterte’s long spell as mayor of Davao, a city in Mindanao that is the main power base of the Duterte clan.

Niang alleged that after becoming mayor of Davao City in 1988, Duterte formed an infamous group known as the Davao Death Squad in order “to kill criminals, and suspected criminals.” Duterte’s office provided some members of the DDS with a regular salary, Niang alleged, adding that rewards were also given “in the form of cash per head for killing.” This then formed the basis for the anti-drug campaign that was launched upon Duterte’s elevation to the presidency.

Duterte’s chief defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman accused the prosecution of employing “cherry-picked” examples of his client’s rhetoric – Duterte often boasted that he would kill drug dealers if elected to the presidency – and told the three-judge panel that his client’s words were never intended to incite violence. Kaufman said that the evidence against Duterte was “wholly insufficient” and the charges were “grievously misplaced and politically motivated.”

Duterte “stands behind his legacy resolutely, and he maintains his innocence absolutely,” he added.

Once the confirmation of charges hearing winds up on Friday, judges will have 60 days to submit a written decision on whether to proceed to trial.

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

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