The former president of the Philippines remains in custody in the Netherlands.
Rodrigo Duterte is facing proceedings at the International Criminal Court on allegations of crimes against humanity, but the case also has a lot to do with politics in the Philippines.
The arrest warrant for Rodrigo Duterte says he created, funded, and supplied weapons to armed death squads as part of what he called a “war on drugs.”
Police say more than 6,000 people were killed in that war, but activists put the number much higher.
The International Criminal Court says it led to the deaths of between 12,000 and 30,000 civilian Filipinos during Duterte's presidency.
Human Rights Watch says its research shows that the Philippine National Police were involved in thousands of those deaths.
The ICC has investigated this case since 2021, when Duterte was still in office. But it took until now for Duterte to be arrested and extradited from the Philippines.
Current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. originally opposed cooperating with the ICC, but that changed as relations between the Marcoses and the Dutertes deteriorated.
In 2022, Marcos won the presidential election — his running mate was his predecessor's daughter, Sara Duterte.
Just last month, Sara Duterte was impeached on a series of allegations, including large-scale corruption and plotting to assassinate the president.
Sara Duterte is currently awaiting trial in the Philippine Senate, and if she's convicted, she will not be eligible to run for president after Marcos leaves office in 2028.
