Sara Duterte says father Rodrigo in 'troubling conditions' at ICC

Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday that her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is in "troubling conditions" at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he is being held on allegations of crimes against humanity related to his administration's war on drugs.

In a statement, Duterte said her family had received "credible" information that the former president had to undergo laboratory tests "after being found unconscious on the floor of his room."

"The family was not informed of the 'accident,' and no explanation was given. These alarming developments raise grave concerns about the capacity of the ICC to guarantee the security and safety of FPRRD (former President Duterte)," she said.

"Even the most basic care for the complaint of an ingrown toenail—easily treatable—cannot be done swiftly. The ICC has persistently ignored the clear need for a 24-hour bedside caregiver," she added.

"The continued detention of former President Duterte under such troubling conditions is not only unjust but [also] inhumane. It amounts to punishment without having been convicted of any crime."

Nicholas Kaufman, counsel for the former president in the ICC case, said that the latter had reported to him several incidents "when he fell in his cell."

"As a result of one of these incidents, he lost consciousness and was evacuated to a hospital, where he was assessed for cranial and brain injury," Kaufman said in a statement.

"None of this was reported either to the defense team or to the family in real time," he said.

Kaufman added, "The former president is fatigued from his detention and physically incapacitated by various medical conditions afflicting a person of his advanced age. All of these conditions are now known to the Marcos administration after its representatives conducted a surreptitious visit to the ICC detention center to gather intelligence under the pretense of offering supposed ‘care and concern’ for the welfare of one of its citizens."

The vice president urged the ICC "to rectify this gross injustice and ensure that former president Duterte is afforded the proper care and, ultimately, the humanitarian considerations he rightfully deserves."

No comment

ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah told GMA Integrated News that the tribunal does not comment on "matters related to private situation of a detained person."

"In a general way, the ICC acts in accordance with the ICC Rome Statute and relevant applicable rules and follows the international standards of detained persons having access to consular representatives. Such visits, if any, are strictly conducted with the approval or at the request of the person in detention," he said.

"The Court also takes all necessary measures for the preservation of physical and psychological well-being of all detainees."

In response to the former president's health concerns, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Angelica Escalona said, "The Philippine Government has no information on such matter, and inquiries about it are best referred to the ICC Spokesperson."

Duterte has been detained at the ICC in The Hague since March 12 while awaiting trial in connection with the alleged abuses in his war on drugs when he was Davao City mayor and president.

The confirmation of charges, originally set for September 23, has been postponed indefinitely after his camp said that he was “not fit to stand trial.”

Kaufman had told the ICC that all legal proceedings against his client must be postponed, as the former president lacked the capacity to apply the cognitive skills essential for the proper conduct of his defense.

He said Duterte has "impaired memory and concomitant inability to retain new information or to recall events, places, timing, or even members of his close family and defense team."

In June, Duterte's camp asked the ICC for an interim release, arguing that the 80-year-old former leader is not a flight risk and that his arrest is not necessary "to ensure the integrity of the investigations or to preclude the continued commission of crimes."

Meanwhile, the vice president criticized anew the so-called "welfare check" conducted by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague on her father, calling it a form of surveillance.

"To deprive an elderly man—abducted, denied his rights under Philippine law, and subjected to surveillance disguised as 'welfare checks'—of basic dignity and proper care is not justice. This is cruelty," she said.

However, Escalona said that "the consular visit was made by career consular officials of the Embassy in a professional, nonintrusive, and respectful manner, and not by any other supposed 'agents of the government.'" —VBL, GMA Integrated News