'Duterte arrest shows ICC can go after Putin, Netanyahu'

MANILA, Philippines — The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte proves that the international law has teeth that could eventually bite Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a former Australian senator said on Tuesday.

But an Australian international law expert said such a scenario remains unlikely.

Like Duterte, Putin and Netanyahu are also subjects of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

However, both Russia and Israel have refused to recognize the ICC’s authority over their incumbent leaders.

Without its own police force, the ICC relies on states to apprehend suspects, making it unlikely to arrest them soon.

READ: Catching the world’s most wanted: the ICC’s impossible task

Nevertheless, former Australian Senator Janet Rice is hopeful that the long arm of international law may eventually get to them.

“The ICC's arrest of Duterte gives me hope that maybe there is some power in international law remaining,” Rice, member of the fourth biggest political party in Australia in terms of representation since 2022 federal polls, said in an online press conference.

“Because if you look at the situation with Putin and you look at Netanyahu’s genocidal attacks in Palestine, it really is very easy to feel very despairing,” she added.

Human rights activist Gill Boehringer expressed doubt that Putin and Netanyahu will ever be prosecuted by the ICC.

“To the best of my memory no one other than those from the Global South have been prosecuted by the ICC,” Boehringer, former dean of Macquarie University law school in Australia, said.

“So we must remember that law, like other institutions, are quite contradictory,” he noted. “There is indeed, essentially, a law for the rich and another law for the poor.”

For Peter Murphy, chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, it’s up to the people of their respective purviews to make Putin and Netanyahu accountable.

“We know from this experience …  that it's up to the people in Palestine and Israel or in Russia and Ukraine to work very hard,” Murphy also said in the same press conference.

“We know how hard people have to work and persist to get this level of action,” he added.

READ: Duterte, 11 others accused of crimes against humanity before ICC

In 2017, it was the lawyer of self-confessed Davao Death Squad hit man Edgar Matobato who filed a complaint before the ICC against President Duterte and 11 of his loyal allies for alleged crimes against humanity.

After this, Duterte withdrew from the  Rome Statute, or the treaty which established the ICC, on March 17, 2018. The withdrawal, however, took effect exactly a year after.

Despite Duterte’s withdrawal, the ICC retained jurisdiction over alleged crimes in the country from November 1, 2011 to March 16 2019 or based on the period when the country was still a member.

This was the basis of ICC’s arrest warrant against Duterte.

READ: Saving Rodrigo Duterte hard even for ‘world’s best’ lawyers – Butuyan

Duterte was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday, March 11, and detained at Villamor Air Base the same day. He has since arrived in The Hague, where he is currently being held. Duterte had his pretrial hearing on March 14, while his confirmation of charges is scheduled for September 23, before which he may appeal for an interim release.

The war against illegal drugs that took place during Duterte's presidential term claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data.

Human rights watchdogs and the ICC prosecutor estimated the death toll to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.

They said several of these incidents were extrajudicial killings.

(2025/03/18-12:39)