By 
12-05-2026 | Tobi Ibikunle | Asia Team Researcher, Global Human Rights Defence.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will face trial at the ICC after the court confirmed charges of crimes against humanity connected to his anti-drug campaign during his time in office.
On Thursday, May 4th, 2026, a three-judge panel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte can stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity. The decision means there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Duterte committed the alleged crimes. This confirmation follows several appeals by the ex-President for release from detention, during which he has been held for more than a year.
Duterte is accused of crimes against humanity between 2011 and 2019, when he withdrew the Philippines from the ICC’s jurisdiction. Prosecutors claim he used police and vigilante groups to neutralise people branded as criminals, and that this tactic was part of his anti-drug drive, Operation Double Barrel.
The charges against Duterte include three counts of crimes against humanity, namely murder, torture, and rape, as well as other crimes committed during his “war on drugs” while in office. These crimes were allegedly committed during Duterte’s time as Mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later while in office as the President of the Philippines.
Duterte was alleged to have openly encouraged the police to shoot and kill suspected drug dealers and users, and the killings involved people being gunned down in the streets or alleys by unidentified men. During Duterte’s administration, thousands of people, especially those from poor and marginalised communities, were unlawfully killed by police or by vigilante groups suspected of links to the police. This was part of what was referred to as the “war on drugs”. Human rights groups estimated that over 30,000 people were killed during Duterte’s time in office, while the national police reported up to 6,000 deaths. Suspects were often summarily executed without trial.
Duterte denied the allegations, and the police said they had killed only in self-defence. He also refused to recognise the ICC proceedings, claiming that during his tenure the country had withdrawn from the Rome Statute, the Treaty that established the ICC.
Ritz Lee Santos, the Director for Amnesty International Philippines, said that the ICC’s confirmation of all charges against Duterte is a historic moment for the victims and for international justice. It sends a message to those accused of systematic murder as a crime against humanity that, one day, they will be in the dock and put on trial. The families of the victims and survivors of the “war on drugs” have waited far too long, and justice may take a long time, but it cannot be postponed forever.
The case will be transferred to a trial chamber responsible for the trial phase. Duterte’s lawyers have argued that he is unfit to participate in ICC proceedings, as the 81-year-old former President suffers from cognitive impairment. The ICC judges rejected this argument, citing medical experts’ opinions, and concluded that he is fit to take part in the proceedings and to exercise his procedural rights effectively.
