THE HAGUE, November 28. /TASS/. The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has upheld the detention of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is accused of crimes against humanity, and has denied his defense counsel's request for temporary release.
"The Appeals Chamber is of the view that the defense failed to substantiate that the Pre-Trial Chamber’s conclusions were unreasonable," ICC Appeals Chamber Judge Lucia del Carmen Ibanez Carranza said, announcing the ruling. She added that the Pre-Trial Chamber applied the proper legal standard and correctly assessed the risk of interference with the investigation if Duterte were released.
The judge explained that the contested decision considered Duterte's political contacts and his extensive network of supporters, as evidenced by his re-election as mayor of Davao in May 2025, which confirms a real risk of absconding and influencing witnesses.
The ruling also notes that the court took into account Duterte's health condition but concluded that humanitarian reasons do not reduce the risk of interfering with the investigation and are not an independent basis for his release.
The court further determined that the guarantees offered by one of the states parties to the Rome Statute, along with its supervision of Duterte in the event of provisional release, weren't enough to cancel out the risks identified.
Duterte case
Police in the Philippines detained Duterte on March 11 under an ICC arrest warrant for crimes against humanity, as he arrived in Manila on a flight from Hong Kong, before he could be handed over to The Hague. In her appeal, Vice President of the Philippines Sara Duterte-Carpio condemned her father’s detention as "a blatant affront to our sovereignty and an insult to every Filipino who believes in our nation’s independence."
On September 15, 2021, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber approved the prosecution's request to launch a full investigation into crimes committed during the fight against drug trafficking in the Philippines. It concluded that there were grounds to investigate killings carried out in the country between November 1, 2011, and March 19, 2019. According to the prosecutor's office, between 12,000 and 30,000 people were killed for using or selling drugs as part of the authorities' campaign, with many cases allegedly involving extrajudicial killings during police operations.
In March 2018, during Duterte's presidency, the Philippines decided to withdraw from the ICC and submitted a relevant application to the UN, which came into force a year later. According to the court, this does not prevent the investigation, as the ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes committed while the country was a member.