The former President of the Philippines has been charged with three counts of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) .
Rodrigo Duterte has been inICC custody since March, when he was arrested in Manila.
Here’s what you need to know.
Duterte
Duterte served as mayor of the city of Davao for 22 years before he was elected president in 2016.
In May, the 80-year-old won the Davao mayoral election, despite being in prison at the ICC.
International media reports Duterte’s lawyer has said he is unable to stand trial due to health issues.
Actions
As both mayor and president, Duterte ran a wide-reaching anti-drug campaign. Soon after becoming president, he told Filipinos to “go ahead and kill” people addicted to drugs.
Under his presidency, police allegedly carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings (outside the court system).
Human rights groups estimate the crackdown is responsible for tens of thousands of unlawful killings.
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Arrest
Duterte was arrested after a panel of judges found “reasonable grounds” to believe he was indirectly responsible for murders carried out between 2011 and 2019.
It found there was an “attack directed against a civilian population” while Duterte was in power, which “was both widespread and systematic: the alleged attack… resulted in thousands of deaths.”
ICC
The ICC is a UN body tasked with investigating crimes against humanity. It has the power to issue arrest warrants and compel people to appear before a tribunal at the Hague, the Netherlands.
125 countries are parties to the ICC, meaning they recognise its power and must arrest anyone on their soil with an active warrant.
Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the ICC in 2018, after it started investigating him.
ICC charges
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang alleged Duterte was an “indirect co-perpetrator” of three counts of crimes against humanity.
The three counts are: Murder in Davao City while mayor (19 victims), murder across the Philippines during his presidency (14 victims), and murder and attempted murder in local government operations (45 victims)
Niang alleged Duterte and his alleged co-perpetrators had an agreement to “neutralise” people accused of crimes in the Philippines.
