Davao Death Squad: Former Philippine Rodrigo Roa Duterte Makes Initial Appearance in ICC Today for Crime Against Humanity

Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s initial appearance is scheduled for Friday, 14 March 2025, at 14:00 hours (The Hague local time) before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court.

Authorities of the Republic of the Philippines arrested Mr Duterte in accordance with an arrest warrant Pre-Trial Chamber I issued under seal on 7 March 2025. He was surrendered to the custody of the ICC on 12 March 2025.

Mr Duterte is suspected of murder, qualified as a crime against humanity, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.

During this time, Mr Duterte was, at varying times, the President of the Philippines, the Mayor of Davao City, and, allegedly, the head of the Davao Death Squad.

During the initial appearance hearing, the judges will verify the identity of the suspect and the language in which he is able to follow the proceedings. He will be informed of the charges against him and of his rights under the ICC Rome Statute.

Pre-Trial Chamber I is composed of Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc (Presiding judge) and Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera.

On Wednesday, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC welcomed the arrest and transfer of the former president of the Philippines on 11 March 2025 by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines.

Duterte has been arrested in the context of the Office’s ongoing investigation into the Situation in the Philippines. 

Based on its independent and impartial investigations, the Office of the Prosecutor alleges that Duterte, as founder and head of the Davao Death Squad, then Mayor of Davao City, and subsequently as the president of the Philippines, is criminally responsible for the crime against humanity of murder (article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute) committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.

Duterte is alleged to have committed these crimes as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population. 

“The arrest of Mr Duterte is an important development in the Office’s pursuit of accountability in the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines for alleged crimes committed in the context of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ campaign,” said the ICC prosecutor.