Drug war victims oppose bid to appeal confirmed ICC charges vs Duterte

The common legal representatives of the victims (CLRV) of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs have objected to his request for leave to appeal the confirmed charges against him.

In a 12-page document dated May 4, the CLRV opposed the defense’s request before the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I to appeal its earlier decision confirming Duterte’s alleged crimes against humanity.

“The Victims oppose the Request in its entirety. The Defence fails to identify any issue that satisfies the requirements of article 82(1)(d) of the Rome Statute,” read the pleading signed by lawyers Gilbert Andres, Joel Butuyan, and Paolina Massidda.

“Rather than raising a discrete legal question warranting interlocutory review, the Request reiterates arguments already fully considered and rejected by Pre-Trial Chamber I and reflects nothing more than the Defence’s disagreement with the Chamber’s reasoning and its assessment of the evidence,” it added.

The CLRV said the defense’s request misunderstood the applicable jurisprudence and the roles of the prosecution and the chamber, while “failing to identify any discernible error of law” in the confirmation decision.

“The Defence does not demonstrate that the alleged issues are capable of significantly affecting the fairness or expeditious conduct of the proceedings or the outcome of the trial, nor that their immediate resolution would materially advance the proceedings,” they said.

“On the contrary, granting leave to appeal would risk fragmenting the proceedings and causing unnecessary delay, without any corresponding benefit, against the interests of both the Victims and the Accused.”

On April 29, Duterte’s legal team sought permission from the ICC to file an appeal over the Pre-Trial Chamber I’s decision confirming the charges against him.

Duterte’s defense counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, said the impugned decision raised two appealable issues.

The first issue was whether the Pre-Trial Chamber I erred by adopting a “flexible approach” and overbroadly delineating the scope of the charges.

The second issue was whether the chamber erred in law by failing to articulate a reasoned evidentiary basis for confirming the charges.

“The Chamber explicitly identified and rejected this conflation, clarifying that these are separate legal inquiries governed by different standards,” the CLRV said, addressing the first issue.

“The Defence’s submissions do not challenge this legal standard, but rather its application to the facts of the present case,” they added.

The victims’ lawyers pointed out that Duterte’s role as Davao mayor and later as President placed him far from directly committing the crimes and are consistent with the alleged forms of responsibility, including indirect co-perpetration.

The CLRV added that the Pre-Trial Chamber I’s decision “reflects the well-established principle that, in cases of large-scale criminality, the number of incidents or victims is indicative.”

This means it does not set definitive limits, as long as any further details stay within the originally defined “facts and circumstances.”

As to the second issue, the CLRV said the Duterte camp did not identify a “discrete” legal question in the confirmation of charges, but expressed disagreement.

“The fact that the Chamber did not adopt the Defence’s interpretation of the evidence – including its arguments regarding the meaning of the term ‘neutralise’ – does not amount to a failure to address those submissions, but rather reflects the Chamber’s reasoned evaluation of the record of the case,” they said.

The victims’ lawyers added that the Duterte camp failed to demonstrate that the alleged errors can affect the fairness or expeditious conduct of the proceedings or the outcome of the trial, and that there is no need for immediate appellant intervention.

“Granting leave to appeal at this stage would, on the contrary, risk fragmenting the proceedings and causing unnecessary delay, contrary to the principle of expeditiousness,” the CLRV said.

On April 23, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed the charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte in connection with the killings in his war on drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and when he was President.

The confirmed charges are the following:

• Count 1: Murder as a crime against humanity in Davao City during the mayoral period of at least the 19 victims, between 2013 and around June 2016, through indirect co-perpetration, ordering and/or inducing, and/or aiding and abetting;
• Count 2: Murder as a crime against humanity of ‘high-value targets’ in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period of at least the 14 victims between around July 2016 and July 2017, through indirect co-perpetration, and/or ordering and/or inducing and/or 25(3)(c) (aiding and abetting); and,
• Count 3: Murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity in barangay clearance operations in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period of at least the 45 victims (43 murders and two attempted murders) between around July 2016 and September 2018, through indirect co-perpetration, ordering and/or inducing, and/or aiding and abetting.

The 81-year-old Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025. He has been detained since then at the ICC Detention facility in Scheveningen in The Hague, Netherlands — JMA, GMA News