“HIGH VALUE TARGETS”
Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018.
The true number of killings during his campaign in the Philippines is thought to be in the thousands, and lawyers for the victims have argued that a full trial could encourage more families to come forward.
Niang said the murder charges were “merely a fraction” of the real numbers killed.
Duterte, who was president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in Manila in March last year, flown to the Netherlands and has since been held at the ICC’s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison.
He followed his initial hearing three days later by video link, appearing dazed and frail and barely speaking.
The first of three counts against Duterte concerns his alleged involvement as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor of Davao City.
The second relates to 14 murders of so-called “High Value Targets” in 2016 and 2017 when he was president.
The third charge covers 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018.
In Manila, about 60 relatives of those killed in the crackdown gathered around a pair of television monitors to watch the hearing at a Catholic Church-run community centre for the poor.
The group of mostly elderly and middle-aged women whose husbands or sons were shot dead in police operations told AFP they were deeply disappointed Duterte had not been required to appear.
“Maybe he does not want to own up to his sins,” said Gloria Sarmiento, whose boyfriend was found dead alongside his brother in the last few weeks of the Duterte presidency.
“Maybe he is a coward.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/rodrigo-duterte-icc-trial-hearings-war-drugs-5946986
