ICC Confirms All Three Charges Against Duterte, Commits Former Philippine President to Trial for 78 Drug-War Murders

On April 23, 2026, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court unanimously confirmed all three counts of crimes against humanity brought by the Prosecutor against former Philippine president Rodrigo Roa Duterte and committed him to trial before a Trial Chamber.

The chamber — Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera — concluded there are substantial grounds to believe Duterte is responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder under article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute. The judges found the killings were "committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population" on Philippine territory between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019.

The three confirmed counts

The charges name 78 victims across three distinct phases of Duterte's political career:

• Davao Death Squad killings (2013–2016): Murder of 19 victims, including three children, in and around Davao City during Duterte's third mayoral term.
• "High-value targets" (2016–2017): Murder of 14 victims killed during the first year of his presidency as part of operations against suspected senior drug figures.
• Barangay clearance operations (2016–2018): Murder and attempted murder of 45 victims in sweeps conducted at the neighborhood level by police and allied actors.

The confirmation decision rests on evidence and arguments presented at a five-day confirmation-of-charges hearing that ran from February 23 to 27, 2026. The chamber's role at this stage is not to determine guilt but to decide whether the Prosecutor's evidence is strong enough to send the case to a full trial — a threshold the judges unanimously found was met.

Appeals Chamber clears the jurisdictional path

The confirmation arrived one day after the ICC's Appeals Chamber, on April 22, 2026, upheld the Court's jurisdiction over the case by majority, rejecting the defense's central argument that the Philippines' March 2019 withdrawal from the Rome Statute extinguished the Court's authority.

The Appeals Chamber affirmed Pre-Trial Chamber I's October 2025 ruling: a state's withdrawal from the Rome Statute does not erase the Court's jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed while that state was a party. The Philippines ratified the Statute on November 1, 2011, and its withdrawal took effect March 16, 2019 — the exact bookends of the period covered by the charges.

The Appeals Chamber also dismissed Duterte's bid for release pending further proceedings.

What happens next

The case now moves from Pre-Trial Chamber I to a Trial Chamber, which will be composed by the Presidency of the Court. Trial Chamber judges will schedule a status conference, rule on outstanding evidentiary and disclosure matters, and set a trial date. Duterte remains in ICC custody in The Hague.

Background

Duterte, 81, served as president of the Philippines from June 2016 to June 2022 after nearly three decades as mayor of Davao City. His "war on drugs" was the signature policy of his presidency; the Philippine government has officially acknowledged approximately 6,000 deaths in anti-drug operations, while human-rights groups have documented totals several times higher when vigilante-style killings attributed to state-linked actors are included.

The ICC prosecutor's investigation, authorized by Pre-Trial Chamber I in September 2021, covers alleged killings both during Duterte's Davao mayoralty and his presidency. Duterte was transferred to ICC custody in March 2025 following an arrest at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport executed pursuant to an ICC warrant.

The confirmation of all charges makes Duterte the first former head of state from Asia to be committed to trial at the ICC.