The former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday, March 11 at Manila airport in application of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) who suspects him of crime against humanity for his deadly war against drugs. Human rights organizations believe that tens of thousands of men, mostly poor, were then killed by police and self -defense groups, often without it being proven that they were linked to drugs. The ICC opened an investigation into this campaign launched in 2016, according to it, likely to constitute a crime against humanity.
“Early this morning, Interpol Manille received the official copy of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC,” the presidency said in a statement. “He is currently in detention”. “The former president and his group are in good health and are being examined by doctors,” continued the same source.
Rodrigo Duterte, 79, came back from a brief trip to Hong Kong and had just landed at Manila International Airport. Speaking in front of thousands of Filipino workers on Sunday in Hong Kong, the former leader (2016-2022) had condemned the investigation, dealing with the investigators of the “son of whores”, while admitting that he “would accept” if he were to be arrested.
Up to 30,000 people killed
The Philippines left the ICC in 2019 according to his orders, but the courtyard based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, said he maintained his jurisdiction with regard to the murders that happened before the withdrawal of the country, as well as for the murders committed in the city of Davao, at the time when Rodrigo Duterte was mayor, before he became president.
More than 6,000 people were killed during anti-drug operations under the chairmanship of Duterte, according to official data published by the Philippines. The CPI prosecutors estimate that the number of deaths is between 12,000 and 30,000.
The former president remains an extremely popular man for many people in the Philippines who have supported his rapid crime solutions. There remains a powerful political force and is in the running to find his post as mayor in the mid-term elections in May.
“I did what I had to do”
Defining himself as a killer, Rodrigo Duterte asked his police officers to fatally shoot people suspected of drug trafficking if their lives were in danger. He insisted that the repression had saved families and prevent the Philippines from turning into a “narcotal-political state”.
Rodrigo Duterte firmly defended his deadly war against drugs in October, as part of his hearing in the Senate which investigates the large -scale murders during this period.
“Do not question my policies, because I have no excuses, no pretexts. I did what I had to do and, whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country,” said Rodrigo Duterte.