Worthy Christian News > World News > Detained Ex-Philippines President In Netherlands For Mass Killings (Worthy News In-Depth)

Detained Ex-Philippines President In Netherlands For Mass Killings (Worthy News In-Depth)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

MANILA/ROTTERDAM (Worthy News) – Ex-Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday to face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged “crimes against humanity” over his “war on drugs” that killed up to 30,000 people.

Duterte, the first former Asian leader to be served an ICC arrest warrant, was detained Tuesday in the Philippine capital, Manila, after returning from a trip to Hong Kong.

Police later placed him on a plane to the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. A privately owned Gulfstream G550 jet carrying Duterte arrived just before 5 p.m. local time at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, according to flight tracking information monitored by Worthy News through the Flightradar24 service.

The aircraft arrived Wednesday from Dubai where it had unexpectedly stopped as Duterte required medical treatment, Worthy News learned.

After landing in the Netherlands, officials said he was brought to a nearby coastal detention unit from where he will be transported to the ICC within the coming days.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ICC said Duterte, 79, had been “arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I for charges of murder as a crime against humanity.”

The statement said he will be brought before an ICC judge in The Hague in the coming days for an initial appearance.

ICC WARRANT

The ICC’s warrant for his arrest stressed that as president, Duterte created, funded, and armed death squads that took part in the murders of alleged drug users and dealers. Many of the victims were poor men shot dead on the streets in extrajudicial killings, according to human rights investigators and family members.

While the loved ones of victims welcomed his detention, lawyers for Duterte filed a petition on behalf of his youngest daughter, Veronica, accusing the government of “kidnapping” and demanding it bring him back.

It also led to tensions within the government. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was confident “the arrest was proper, correct, and followed all necessary legal procedures.”

He added, “We did not help the International Criminal Court in any way. The arrest was made in compliance with Interpol,” a reference to the international police organization.

However, Vice President Sara Duterte, the eldest daughter of the detained former leader, traveled to the Netherlands to lobby for his release. Her office shared a picture on its page on the social media platform Facebook of a red ribbon with the text “BRING PRRD HOME,” – referring to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Some supporters of Duterte agreed. “Our former President tried to save millions of Filipino people. If he allowed those [drug addicts and drug dealers] people to do their things, what would happen to the Philippines?” stressed a municipal worker talking to Worthy News.

“Most people in the Philippines are so sad. We love our former president. During his time, we feel safe, and all were disciplined,” she recalled, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I am very sad,” added Clarita, another supporter of the ex-president.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENTS

“You don’t understand what is happening in the Philippines,” she exclaimed when asked about the thousands of people who were allegedly killed without a fair trial.

Yet Carlos Conde, a senior researcher at the Asia division of the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, said the developments were historic.

He emphasized it would be an understatement to say that victims felt ecstatic at his arrest. “This is something that’s totally unprecedented in the history of this country … not just in this country, [but] for Southeast Asia and even Asia,” he noticed.

“[Victims’] spirits are buoyed. They’re very, very optimistic that this is something that can move along expeditiously in The Hague,” Conde stressed. “The victims here in the Philippines have pretty much-lost faith in the domestic justice system, which has done so very little in terms of addressing their quest for justice. This is why they pinned their hopes on the ICC.”

Building the case had been a “very painstaking process” for victims, the families of victims, and domestic human rights groups, Conde recalled.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, which has represented the families of victims of the killings, said “victims’ pain from loss” had been, for the day, “eclipsed by joy and hope.”

Duterte’s arrest was symbolic of “a victory of the poor and marginalized, akin to that of David versus Goliath,” the lawyers’ group said, adding: “We still have to press on and work for his eventual conviction.”

SIMPLE JOY

“There’s a feeling of simple joy at what is happening and relief,” expressed Brother Jun Santiago, who set up Silingan Coffee, a small coffee shop, to help give jobs to the families of victims of extrajudicial killings and to provide a space to memorialize their stories.

The cafe offered discounted drinks to customers to encourage people to visit and learn about “the abuses that were committed” under Duterte’s government. Santiago described the arrest as a “first step to justice.”

Duterte became president in 2016 after promising a merciless, bloody crackdown that would rid the country of drugs.

During his election campaign, he once warned there would be so many bodies dumped in Manila Bay that “fish would grow fat” from feeding on them. After taking office, he publicly threatened to kill suspected drug dealers and urged the public to kill people with an addiction.

Yet he seemed to deny wrongdoing on Tuesday when speaking to those who had detained him in Manila. “What is the law, and what is the crime that I committed? Explain to me now the legal basis for my being here as apparently I was brought here not of my own volition. It’s somebody else’s,” he said in a video recording seen by Worthy News.

Duterte, visibly upset, demanded: “You have to answer now for the deprivation of liberty… Have you read the case at the time you made the arrest so that you should be guided on what you should know?”

The ICC is now due to answer these questions in a case followed by millions in his home country.