Victims of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war campaign on Wednesday night (Philippine time) opposed the latter’s request for his urgent interim release from detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Detention Center in Scheveningen, The Hague, Netherlands.
In an 18-page public redacted version of victims’ response to Duterte’s defense urgent request for his interim release, the victims formally opposed the request, which was filed by the former president’s counsels on 12 June.
“The Principal Counsel submits that the Defence Request should be rejected and that the continued detention of Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte (‘Mr. Duterte’) remains necessary since the conditions set forth in article 58(1) of the Rome Statute (the ‘Statute’) continue to be met,” the document read.
The victims, represented by the Principal Counsel of the Office of Public Counsel for Victims or OPCV, argued that Duterte has access to a “great part of the evidence” in the record of the case and to the prosecution witnesses’ identities, adding that the former president “continues to wield considerable power and support.”
They also noted that there was “no humanitarian reasons have been established at this juncture justifying an interim release.”
To recall, one of the grounds that Duterte’s camp used for their request for his urgent interim release was his advanced age.
Duterte celebrated his 80th birthday at the ICC detention center on 28 March.
The victims also argued that Duterte’s interim release will “pose a direct and significant danger to the victims who have demonstrated courage in applying to participate in the present proceedings in order to contribute to the search for the truth, despite risks of being threatened or otherwise stigmatized."
“Considering that Mr. Duterte has been recently arrested, his interim release would be hard to fathom for the victims who have clearly expressed the view that he should remain in detention at the Court pending the pre-trial proceedings,” the document read.
“For the victims, this is the only way of ensuring that he will face trial. Indeed, victims are extremely concerned with the prospect that Mr. Duterte could be released, particularly because there is a real risk that they face threats from the Suspect and his supporters,” it added.
It continued: “For the foregoing reasons, the Principal Counsel respectfully requests the Chamber to reject the Defence Request.”
The document was signed by Paolina Massidda, who is currently acting as the principal counsel for the victims.
Duterte was arrested on 11 March at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon his return to the country from a trip to Hong Kong. On the same day, he was transferred to The Hague, Netherlands, where the ICC is based.
Duterte is suspected of murder qualified as a crime against humanity, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.
Based on the government data, at least 7,000 people were killed under Duterte's drug war, however, both local and international human rights groups disagreed with the figures, stressing that the actual number of victims could be as high as 30,000.