Duterte in person at ICC for first time over ‘war on drugs’ killings

Former Philippine president accused of setting up death squads faces trial starting on November 30.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appears at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on September 16, 2026 [Piroschka van de Wouw/AFP]

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has appeared in person for the first time at the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he is charged with crimes against humanity for killings during his “ war on drugs “.

Prosecutors accuse Duterte, who was arrested and transferred to The Hague-based court in March 2025, of creating, funding and arming death squads that targeted drug users and dealers. Duterte denies the charges, saying he only ordered police to act in self-defence as part of his anti-drug offensive.

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The 81-year-old remained silent during Wednesday’s session, which covered his health, evidence disclosure and the timetable of the trial due to open on November 30. He had missed earlier hearings on medical grounds, with his lawyers saying cognitive decline has left him unfit to take part.

In a filing on Tuesday, the defence said serious memory loss leaves him unable to absorb new information or reliably recall the past.

Citing tests in an unpublished report by three medical experts, the lawyers said Duterte believes the year is 2007 or 2008, believes that he is 84 or 85, and could not name the sitting president of the United States.

In January, however, judges ruled that he was healthy enough to stand trial and requested that he be present for proceedings.

The charges cover Duterte’s alleged role in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018, when he was mayor of the southern city of Davao, and later as president from 2016 to 2022.

“Decades of murdering his own people, murdering the children of the Philippines, and he claims that he did it all for his country. He doesn’t deny it,” said Julian Nicholls, summing up for the prosecution after the hearings.

“His promise was to kill thousands, and he did.”

Philippine police say 6,200 suspects were killed in anti-drug operations, while rights groups and ICC prosecutors put the overall toll as high as 30,000.

Randy Delos Santos, a Filipino whose teenage nephew was killed by police under Duterte’s presidency, told the AFP news agency he was glad the former president was able to attend.

“Seeing that he is physically fit, we believe this could be the start of a process that will finally bring us, the victims, the justice we have been waiting for,” he said.

Lawyers for other victims of Duterte’s draconian anti-drug campaign have argued that a full trial could encourage more families to come forward.

Duterte is the first former head of state from Asia to face trial at the ICC.

In 2018, he had announced the Philippines’s withdrawal from the court after it opened a preliminary investigation into his conduct, but judges last year refused to dismiss the case on those grounds.

被控组建死亡小队的菲律宾前总统将于11月30日开始受审。

菲律宾前总统罗德里戈·杜特尔特于 2026 年 9 月 16 日出现在海牙国际刑事法院 [Piroschka van de Wouw/法新社]

菲律宾前总统罗德里戈·杜特尔特首次亲自出庭国际刑事法院（ICC），他被指控在其“禁毒战争”期间犯下反人类罪。

检方指控杜特尔特创建、资助并武装了以吸毒者和毒贩为目标的行刑队。杜特尔特于2025年3月被捕并被移送至位于海牙的国际刑事法院。杜特尔特否认这些指控，称他只是下令警方在其禁毒行动中出于自卫而采取行动。

菲律宾法院下令逮捕副总统杜特尔特，理由是他曾威胁总统马科斯，以下是第1条（共3条）

菲律宾渡轮火灾死亡人数升至76人（共3条记录，此为第2条）

菲律宾穆斯林占多数的邦萨摩罗自治区举行首届议会选举（共3个列表，此为第3个）。

这位 81 岁的老人在周三的庭审中保持沉默。庭审内容包括他的健康状况、证据披露以及定于 11 月 30 日开庭的审判时间表。他曾因健康原因缺席之前的听证会，他的律师表示，认知能力下降使他无法出庭。

辩方周二提交的文件称，严重的记忆丧失使他无法吸收新信息或可靠地回忆过去。

律师们援引三位医学专家未发表的报告中的测试结果称，杜特尔特认为现在是 2007 年或 2008 年，认为自己 84 或 85 岁，并且说不出美国现任总统的名字。

然而，1月份法官裁定他身体状况足以接受审判，并要求他出庭参加庭审。

这些指控涵盖了杜特尔特在 2013 年至 2018 年担任南部城市达沃市市长期间，以及后来在 2016 年至 2022 年担任总统期间，涉嫌参与的至少 76 起谋杀案。

“他数十年来一直在屠杀自己的人民，屠杀菲律宾的儿童，却声称这一切都是为了他的国家。他没有否认这一点，”朱利安·尼科尔斯在听证会后代表控方总结发言时说道。

“他承诺要杀死成千上万人，而他也做到了。”

菲律宾警方称，在缉毒行动中，有 6200 名嫌疑人被打死，而人权组织和国际刑事法院检察官则认为死亡总人数高达 30000 人。

菲律宾人兰迪·德洛斯·桑托斯 (Randy Delos Santos) 的侄子在杜特尔特总统任期内被警察杀害，他告诉法新社，他很高兴这位前总统能够出席。

他说：“鉴于他身体状况良好，我们相信这可能是一个进程的开始，最终将为我们这些受害者带来我们一直期盼的正义。”

杜特尔特严厉的禁毒运动的其他受害者的律师辩称，全面审判可能会鼓励更多家庭站出来。

杜特尔特是首位在国际刑事法院接受审判的亚洲前国家元首。

2018 年，菲律宾对他的行为展开初步调查后，他宣布菲律宾退出该法庭，但法官去年拒绝以此为由撤销此案。