Human Rights Watch Philippines

13/04/2025

Oped by HRW's Carlos Conde on Duterte's arrest by the ICC and what it all means to victims like Clarita Alia, Randy delos Santos and others.

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The case against Duterte in The Hague is a stark reminder of the importance of the International Criminal Court as a court of last resort, standing for equality before the law, with the potential to reach even those thought to be untouchable.

But it is precisely because the court is pursuing its global mandate that it is currently under attack.... The court can overcome these challenges, but only with the support of the international community and its member countries. They should step up their efforts to protect the court that they created to ensure that the victims of the most serious crimes have access to justice.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by Philippine authorities and flown to The Hague for his arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for his responsibility in the crime …

07/04/2025

🚩 WHY WAS DUTERTE ARRESTED BY THE ICC?
🚩 🚩 Bakit inaresto ng ICC si Duterte?
🚩🚩🚩 Nganong gidakop sa ICC si Duterte?

▶️ Because his regime extrajudicially killed thousands of Filipinos during a bogus "war on drugs."
▶️ ▶️ Dahil pumatay ng libo-libong Filipino ang rehimen nya ng hindi naaayon sa batas.
▶️ ▶️ ▶️ Tungod kay libuan ang iligal nga gipatay sa iyang rehimen.

🇵🇭 Let's not divert the issue.
🇵🇭🇵🇭 Huwag na po natin ilihis ang usapan.
🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭 Ayaw na laina ang hisgutanan.

📌 LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE KILLINGS THROUGH THESE LINKS AND QR CODES.
📌📌 Alamin ang mga patayan sa "drug war" sa pamamagitan ng mga QR codes at links na ito.
📌📌📌 Tun-i ang mga patay sa "drug war" pinaagi aning mga QR codes ug links.

07/04/2025

THE DRUG WAR VIOLENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES IS FAR FROM OVER. DEATH TOLL UNDER MARCOS NEARING 1,000.

01/04/2025

“Myanmar’s military junta still invokes fear, even in the wake of a horrific natural disaster that killed and injured thousands,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The junta needs to break from its appalling past practice and ensure that humanitarian aid quickly reaches those whose lives are at risk in earthquake-affected areas.”

Myanmar’s military junta should allow immediate unfettered access to humanitarian aid for earthquake survivors and lift restrictions that impede the emergency response.

20/03/2025

In this podcast episode with Talk Southeast Asia's Bridget Welsh , HRW's Carlos Conde tackles the significance of the ICC's arrest of former Philippines tyrant Rodrigo Duterte and what it means for 1000s of "drug war" victims and their quest for justice.

Straight Talk Southeast Asia is a weekly podcast series that covers politics in Southeast Asia, analysing elections, conflict, political risk, governance and human rights. Along with dissecting the political muck, Bridget Welsh and Zachary Abuza engage with those shaping politics and political narra...

17/03/2025

In this episode of Al Jazeera English's The Take, HRW's Philippines research Carlos Conde discusses with host Kevin Hirten the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court - ICC and why this is important for victims of human rights not just in the Philippines but around the world, especially in the Global South.

They also delve into the rise of Duterte in Davao City and his tough anti-crime campaign there and how it became the template for the "drug war" that subsequently killed thousands across the Philippines, and the political rift between the Dutertes and the Marcoses -- a rift that only PARTLY made the ICC arrest possible because, as Conde emphasizes, without the long and painstaking fight for justice by victims and grassroots human rights organizations in the country, THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.

Why was Rodrigo Duterte arrested by the ICC? | The Take
https://youtu.be/QG2Yhv-sJ94

Also available on:

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/why-was-rodrigo-duterte-arrested-by-the-icc/id1438817292?i=1000699445561

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5iK0bEHCWWlyDhTT4uP024

16/03/2025

Huwag na po natin ilihis ang usapan.
Ayaw na laina ang hisgutanan.
Let's not divert the issue.

The arrest and incarceration of Rodrigo Duterte by the ICC in the Hague is about the merciless killing by his regime of thousands and thousands of Filipinos.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE KILLINGS.

The QR code on the left points to stories online about Duterte's murderous "drug war." The one on the right will bring you to the research and documentation by Human Rights Watch over the years.

16/03/2025

PH should return to ICC, probe drug war killings to show issue not ‘politicized’ — HRW

Human Rights Watch senior researcher Carlos Conde said Sturday that it is the only "logical move" for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

16/03/2025

The heartbreaking story of Nanay Clarita Alia.

She’s happy that the mastermind in the killing of her four sons is now behind bars in The Hague. But when I spoke to her late last year, she was inconsolable over the fact that the case of her sons are not included in the ICC investigation. I explained to her that their deaths in rhe hands of Duterte’s death squad, which took place between 2001 and 2007, were not included because the Philippines was not yet a party to the Rome Statute at the time. That did little to ease her anguish.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Clarita Alia burst into tears upon learning that former President Rodrigo Duterte had been arrested and handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to be

16/03/2025

In April 2009, a month before the Commission on Human Rights then led by Leila Norma De Lima launched its investigation into the , Human Rights Watch published its groundbreaking report "You Can Die Anytime" about the extrajudicial killings in Davao City. It exposed the operations of the group of assassins ran from City Hall by then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. HRW's current Asia director, Elaine Pearson, supervised the work on the report, which had taken months to research and publish. After publication, the report became a key document in the CHR's investigation.

Elaine was summoned to testify at the hearings in Davao City. There, she saw Duterte for the first time. She recounted her testimony and her brief encounter with the tyrant in her 2022 book "Chasing Wrongs and Rights," in which she devoted a whole chapter about Duterte and the DDS. "He had a haughty arrogance," Elaine wrote about Duterte. "I didn't like him one bit."

16 years later, inside the International Criminal Court in the Hague where Duterte is being held and tried for crimes against humanity for extrajudicial killings in the "drug war" and several Davao Death Squad killings, some of that "haughty arrogance" remains but, mostly, what people see is a defeated, frail-looking man now forced to confront -- and to account for -- his monstrosity.

This 103-page report details the involvement of police and local government officials in targeted killings of alleged drug dealers and petty criminals, street children, and others, and describes the lack of any effort by the authorities to investigate the killings and bring those responsible to just...

15/03/2025

15/03/2025

Kailangan natin ilagay sa pokus ang mga biktima ng "drug war" at Davao Death Squad, hindi ang bangayan sa politika ng mga Duterte at mga Marcoses, hindi ang paggamit sa paglilitis sa ICC para sa politika.

Salamat, Victoria Tulad and sa pagkakataon.

Ayon kay human rights advocate Carlos Conde, malinaw na hindi pinapabayaan si dating pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa ICC kaya’t hindi dapat mang-gaslight o magt...