Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will be trading his cozy countryside home for the sterile walls of the International Criminal Court’s detention centre, following his high-profile arrest as part of a probe into his deadly war on drugs.
Duterte, who was arrested at a Manila airport following a trip to Hong Kong, was flown via a Gulfstream G550 private jet to Dubai and then Rotterdam. He was brought to the The Hague, where the ICC is headquartered, and taken into custody.
“It’s a long flight. I am OK. Do not worry,” Duterte said in a video message shortly before landing in the Netherlands. “This will be long legal proceedings and I say to you we will continue to serve the country. So be it if that’s my destiny.”
The 79-year-old Duterte, who cultivated an image as a man of the masses by choosing simple food and clothing during his public appearances, is expected to be housed in one of the spartan cells of the ICC Detention Centre, inside a Dutch prison complex on the outskirts of The Hague beside the North Sea. He will likely be confined to a 10-square-metre cell — little larger than a sedan — with off-white walls, a bed, desk, cupboard, sink and toilet.
Duterte, who withdrew the Philippines from the ICC a few years into his 2016-22 term, is facing charges related to his anti-narcotics campaign where thousands of drug suspects were killed, and which drew criticism from rights groups and the international community. The ICC warrant cites alleged crimes against humanity between November 2011 to March 2019.
The brash Duterte, known for expletive-laced tirades against political opponents and world leaders, will have access to consular services, spiritual advisers, in-house medical care and approved family visits, according to an ICC fact sheet. He joins the likes of Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, a former militia commander who is accused of war crimes in Darfur, Sudan, and three people from the Central African Republic, including former sports minister Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, who are on trial on allegations of crimes against humanity.
The ICC detention centre also allows detainees to take daily courtyard walks and to visit a beige-walled library and a recreation room, as well as cooking facilities. An avid biker who rides Harley Davidson and Yamaha motorcycles, Duterte could also join sports like running, volleyball, tennis or basketball. Detainees can use secure computers to access files from their legal team, according to the ICC.
It stands in contrast to his two-storey, 200-square-metre property in Davao City, in southern Philippines, which he shares with his partner, Cielito Avanceña, and their daughter Veronica. “They took my dad from us, put him on a plane and wouldn’t say where to. People, wake up,” Veronica Duterte said on Instagram after his arrest, alleging that authorities forced him to board the jet without considering his health conditions.
Duterte’s other daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, flew to the Netherlands on Wednesday. Among Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team are former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and former Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello.
Their house with a mint-green gate has become a local tourist spot, complete with a life-sized cutout of Duterte for photo takers. Over his six-year term, Duterte shuffled between the presidential palace in the capital Manila and his residence, particularly on weekends.
In 2017, he welcomed then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to breakfast in the Davao home. Duterte famously showed Abe his orange-walled bedroom and a bed draped with a white mosquito net, which at the time was described by Duterte supporters as a sign of his down-to-earth lifestyle.
The ICC said it operates the facility “with the highest international human rights standards for the treatment of detainees,” and that an independent body conducts regular and unannounced inspections to ensure detainees’ wellbeing.
“We are assured his rights will be protected, he will be treated well,” said Ranjit Rye, assistant professor of political science at the University of the Philippines. “But what about the victims of war on drugs? We should have institutional reforms so this will never happen again.”
If convicted, Duterte will be transferred to another ICC member nation to serve out his sentence.