JAKARTA - On March 11, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Manila airport and within hours was on a chartered jet which flew to The Hague, Netherlands, where the International Criminal Court (ICC) sits.
According to the ICC’s statement, Duterte has been accused of presiding over a violent “war on drugs” during his presidency from 2016 to 2022, which saw thousands of small-time drug dealers, users and
others killed without trial.
The Philippine government claimed that the arrest was made in compliance with a red notice issued by International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). However, media reports connecting the arrest with red notice are all published by Philippine media, while Interpol has yet to issue any official statement confirming this matter, and no red notice on Duterte can be found on its official website.
On March 20, Senator Imee Marcos, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and sister of the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., pointed out in a Senate hearing that there was no red notice from the Interpol, only a red diffusion for the arrest of Duterte.
A red notice requires approval from Interpol’s General Secretariat before publication, ensuring a level of validation. In contrast, a diffusion is an informal alert used by member states to inform law enforcement about individuals wanted for crimes, but does not entail an obligation to act.
This indicates that a non-binding document was used by the Marcos administration to serve as a substitute for the red notice to arrest and extradite Duterte. If the red notice is proven to be fake, this arrest would amount to political persecution.
International human rights lawyer Arnedo Valera stated that the unlawful arrest of Duterte is a reckless abuse of power and constitutes a procedural violation. The Marcos government attempts to confuse a red notice with a red diffusion, with an aim to justify its political action using “international rule of law” as an excuse.
Since the arrest of Duterte on March 11, his supporters have staged large rallies in Manila and Davao to protest the implementation of the ICC’s arrest order against Duterte and criticize the Philippine
government’s contradictory statements regarding the arrest of Duterte. They argued such actions have undermined public confidence in the government.
Philippine Senator Bong Go called the former President’s arrest an “unlawful surrender” by the Philippine government.
“How and why did we end up in this situation? We have an existing justice system in our country, we have our own laws and courts, so why did the government allow a Filipino to be arrested in our own land,” Go said.
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