The International Criminal Court (ICC) has now received 303 formal applications from individuals seeking recognition as victims of the war on drugs led by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained in the Netherlands.
The ICC Registry has reported that the Victim Participation and Reparations Section is working to provide assistance to victims, particularly those who have participated in previous court proceedings, although it emphasized that the published number of applications is a "limited number" compared to the number of victims who wished to participate.
The list is the result of work with victim support networks and groups in a "transparent and inclusive" process, according to the institution, which has worked with forms in Tagalog, Cebuano, English, and French and has held meetings with the candidates in which they have been informed of their rights.
The hearing to confirm Duterte's charges is scheduled for September 23, although the former president denies all charges and attributes the proceedings to political revenge.
The Philippine government acknowledges more than 7,000 deaths of "traffickers" as part of the security forces' campaign against drug trafficking networks during the Duterte era. Authorities maintain that in all of these cases, the suspects resisted arrest with violence and were killed. However, Duterte himself encouraged officers to kill suspects in public statements.
Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11 and handed over to the court on an arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity during the war on drugs he waged during his presidency, as well as during his tenure as mayor of Davao City from 2011 to 2016, a period characterized by extreme brutality by security forces.
It should be recalled that the Philippines joined the ICC on November 1, 2011, but filed a withdrawal notice in 2018, which became effective on March 17, 2019. However, the Court has maintained jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in the Philippines while it was a State Party, between November 2011 and March 2019.
