What awaits Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague?
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he attends a senate probe on the drug war during his administration, in Manila on October 28, 2024. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse
READ: LIVE UPDATES: Rodrigo Duterte at The Hague
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to arrive in the Netherlands on Wednesday to face a crime against humanity charge stemming from his crackdown on drugs.
After landing, he will be taken to the International Criminal Court’s detention unit, where he will be readied for an initial appearance before the court’s judges.
Here is what he can expect:
The prison
Located in The Hague’s seaside suburb of Scheveningen, the ICC’s detention unit forms part of a Dutch prison and currently holds five other ICC prisoners being tried before the court.
READ: How ICC chamber decided that Duterte must face trial
It is also the prison that used to detain those wanted by the nearby International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including the likes of Slobodan Milosevic, Radovan Karadzic, and Ratko Mladic.
“In fulfilling its mandate, the ICC Registrar endeavors to ensure the mental, physical and spiritual welfare of the detained persons within an efficient system of detention, with consideration to their cultural diversity and their development as individuals,” the ICC says on its website.
Prisoners all have individual cells equipped with computers but no access to the internet to allow them to work on their cases.
The cells also have a bed, desk, shelves, a cupboard, toilet, hand basin, television, and an intercom to speak to guards when the cell is locked.
They may also use an outdoor exercise area and take part in sports and recreation activities.
LIVE UPDATES: Duterte arrested by PNP after ICC issues warrant
Three meals a day are served, but there is also a communal kitchen where detainees can cook with groceries provided from a shopping list “in order for them to adjust the meals provided to them, according to their taste and cultural requirements.”
Detainees may receive family or conjugal visits “several times a year,” and if they are declared destitute, the court foots the bill for the visits “to the extent possible.”
Initial appearance
ICC rules say all detainees “shall appear before the Pre-Trial Chamber, in the presence of the prosecutor, promptly upon arrival at the court.”
This hearing aims to verify a suspect’s identity and to inform the arrested person of the crimes he or she is accused of.
Prisoners are informed of their rights under the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, including the right to apply for interim release.
Pre-trial judges will then set a date on which it will hold a confirmation of charges hearing.
Confirmation of charges
The Rome Statute says that within a reasonable amount of time after a person’s surrender or detention, the Pre-Trial Chamber shall hold a hearing to “confirm the charges on which the prosecutor intends to seek trial.”
At that hearing, the prosecutor must convince judges that substantial grounds exist “to believe that the person committed the crime(s) charged” and that enough evidence has been gathered to hold a trial.
The ICC’s judges may, at the end of the hearing, either confirm the charges and send the accused to a trial chamber or say more evidence is needed from the prosecutor, modify the charges, or drop the charges altogether.
Once the charges have been confirmed, the court’s presidency puts together a trial chamber to prepare and then conduct a trial.
