June 20, 2025
MANILA – Granting temporary liberty to former President Rodrigo Duterte might put at risk the safety of witnesses to his crimes against humanity of murder case before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Philippine-based and international groups warned.
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) said on Wednesday that it was opposing Duterte’s application for interim release from the ICC’s detention center in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, as this could cower victims and their families, as well as witnesses and lawyers.
“The IADL believes that accountability must prevail. In contrast to the lack of due process in Duterte’s war on drugs, his charges in the ICC require a full, unhindered judicial process. To grant him interim release now threatens or intimidates victims, their families, witnesses and lawyers,” IADL said in a statement.
READ: Duterte appeal for interim release a ‘moral test’ for ICC – group
The Duterte Panagutin Campaign Network also made a similar statement on Tuesday, saying an interim release could threaten the safety of witnesses, many of whom are “only now finding the strength to add their stories to the mountain of evidence.”
De novo assessment
It further warned that freeing Duterte could allow him to “actively continue his crimes, further entrenching the culture of impunity that has left a bloody trail in the Philippines.”
The IADL, an international nonprofit with consultative status to United Nations bodies, called on the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to apply a “de novo assessment” (a new evaluation, as if the case is being heard for the first time) to Articles 58 and 60 of the Rome Statute. The articles pertain to the issuance of a warrant of arrest or a summons to appear and initial proceedings, including application for interim release pending trial.
This would “[ensure] that any decision on interim release fully respects the Rome Statute’s strict criteria and that victims’ voices guide the process,” said the group whose members include the Philippines-based National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers that has assisted families of the victims of Duterte’s drug war.
It added that while humanitarian situations of an accused, especially one of advanced age, should warrant respect and care, “dubious, deceitful and hypocritical pleas must be exposed as a devious stunt to get undeserved liberty.”
“Such considerations cannot come before the imperative of ensuring justice. Alternatives to detention become appropriate only when they do not compromise victims’ rights or the ICC’s mandate,” it added.
Continuing influence
The 80-year-old Duterte earlier asked the ICC to allow his interim release to another country citing his advanced age and a vow not to flee or commit any crimes.
Duterte’s counsel Nicholas Kaufman told the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber a third country had expressed its “advance and principled agreement to receive Mr. Duterte onto its territory.” The name of the country was redacted in the text of the request released to the public.
Kaufman said Duterte is not a flight risk and will not commit crimes if released. He also pointed out that the former president no longer commands influence or power.
Lawyer Jojo Lacanilao, convener of the Duterte Panagutin Campaign Network, rejected such claims as “dangerous fiction.”
“His current position as mayor of Davao City is irrefutable proof that he remains to have considerable resources and access to authority, not to mention his daughter’s capacity,” he said.
Endangerment
Duterte’s daughter Sara remains as vice president, although she is facing an impeachment trial at the Senate. His sons Sebastian and Paolo were reelected as Davao City’s vice mayor and congressman, respectively, in the May midterm polls.
Lacanilao also said Duterte’s release “would not be a humanitarian gesture; it would be an act of endangerment to the very people the Court is sworn to protect.”
“To release him is to give him a platform. It would allow ‘The Punisher’ to once again incite violence, to rally his supporters, and to terrorize a nation still reeling from his brutality,” he added.
He called for Duterte to remain in detention and for his trial to “proceed carefully and resolutely” for the sake of the drug war victims as well as the future of international justice.
“The prosecution’s case is built on the courage of survivors and witnesses—journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with direct testimony of the streets littered with corpses executed in the most violent of manners who have risked everything to speak out from the beginning and are continuing to speak out today,” Lacanilao said.
No precedent
“To release Duterte is to place them all in the direct path of intimidation and harm,” he added.
He also pointed out that there was “no precedent for granting provisional release to an individual accused of orchestrating such widespread and systematic atrocities with such unashamed pride.”
“To treat his case with the leniency of interim release would be a catastrophic moral failure. It would signal to modern day dictators everywhere that even crimes against humanity can be negotiated,” Lacanilao said.
