The International Criminal Court has confirmed charges against Rodrigo Duterte for his war on drugs in the Philippines. The Pre-Trial Chamber I unanimously approved three charges of murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity. The former president will face a trial where his responsibility for the extrajudicial executions that marked his term will be assessed.
Surveillance systems and the digital trail of a dirty war 🕵️
During the war on drugs, Philippine authorities used decentralized databases to record operations, but without rigorous forensic control. The ICC prosecution has reconstructed the events through analysis of mobile communications, geolocation of executions, and digital testimonies. The evidence includes chains of messages between police units and casualty records that, according to investigators, show a systematic pattern of murders coordinated from high command.
Duterte: from the war on drugs to the war of judicial statements 😅
Duterte now faces a trial in The Hague, where his lawyers will try to explain that the 6,000 deaths were simple traffic accidents poorly reported. The former president, who promised to kill 100,000 criminals, now faces a system that does not understand populist threats. Ironies of life: the same man who boasted of being the scourge of drug traffickers must now explain why his methods were not exactly a toothpaste advertisement.