Rights group to ICC, after 1 year of Duterte detention: Confirm the charges vs Duterte, arrest co-perpetrators
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
11 March 2026
References: Maria Sol Taule, KARAPATAN Deputy Secretary General, 09452966916
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 0918-9790580
Rights group to ICC, after 1 year of Duterte detention: Confirm the charges vs Duterte, arrest co-perpetrators
On the first anniversary of Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC), KARAPATAN renewed its call for the ICC to confirm the charges against Duterte and proceed to trial. It also reiterates its call for the arrest of all of Duterte’s co-conspirators in the bloody war on drugs so that they too can be held accountable.
A year after Duterte’s detention, the families of victims of his anti-drug war hurdled a number of obstacles put up by Duterte’s legal team. In motion after motion, Duterte’s lawyers questioned the judges’ competence, tried to disqualify the victims’ lawyers, sought to defer the confirmation of charges and the trial itself by claiming cognitive deficits on Duterte’s part and tried to secure his interim release. One by one, the ICC Pre-trial and Appeals Chambers shot down their arguments, and the proceedings inched closer towards trial.
“Apart from Duterte, the victims’ families would also like to see his co-conspirators behind bars,” said KARAPATAN deputy secretary general Atty. Maria Sol Taule. “They have been named in a redacted list released by the ICC—former police chiefs Ronald “Bato’ dela Rosa, Vicente Danao, Camilo Cascolan (deceased), Oscar Albayalde and Isidro Lapeña, former justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go.”
Added Atty. Taule: “These individuals who actually designed, implemented, funded and enabled Duterte’s war on drugs and thwarted the victims’ attempts to seek justice must face the consequences. The names of Eduardo Ano, Hermogenes Esperon, Debold Sinas, Lito Patay, Romeo Caramat and scores of fascists in the police and military should likewise be included.”
Meanwhile, Atty. Taule said that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 's continued refusal to rejoin the ICC indicates that he himself fears being held accountable for practically the same crimes Duterte is facing before the international body. “Marcos Jr. himself bears command responsibility for extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,” said Atty. Taule. “He knows that he can someday face the same fate as Duterte if the country were to rejoin the ICC and so he plans to seek refuge behind the same domestic redress mechanisms that have been inutile in holding Duterte accountable.”
“KARAPATAN stands with the victims of Duterte’s drug war and all other victims of state violence up to the present regime in their continuing struggle for justice and accountability,” concluded Atty. Taule.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.