MANILA –  The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday confirmed all charges against former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained in The Hague for charges related to his brutal drug war that had left thousands dead.

Duterte faces charges of three counts of crimes against humanity relating to 49 incidents of killings, with 78 victims. The number is just a representation of the total deaths of alleged drug addicts and dealers during his six-year presidency that ended in 2022.

“The Chamber finds that there are substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is criminally responsible for the crimes charged in Counts 1-3 as an indirect co-perpetrator, and/or for ordering and/or inducing, and/or for aiding and abetting the commission of the crimes, pursuant to articles 25(3)(a), (b) and (c) of the Statute,” the ICC’s pre-trial chamber said in its decision.

The ICC, in a brief explaining the decision, said the judges based the decision on the evidence presented. “These crimes were allegedly committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on the territory of the Republic of the Philippines,” between November 2011 and March 2019, the court said.

Duterte, who had repeatedly told police under his presidency to ‘kill, kill, kill’ suspects if they put up a fight during drug raids, is not “automatically entitled” to appeal the decision, but his lawyers can choose to do so, the court said.

He would then have to appear before the ICC, which has yet to set a date for the actual trial. 539 relatives of those who died in his anti-drug war have been granted permission to attend the trial.

Ritz Lee Santos III, the Philippine director of rights group Amnesty International, said the ICC’s confirmation of charges against Duterte was a “historic moment” for international justice.

“It sends a clear message that those who are alleged to have committed widespread and systematic murder as a crime against humanity will one day find themselves in the dock, facing trial. Justice may be slow in coming, but it cannot be delayed forever,” Santos said.

“This trial is not about politics. It is about a campaign in which thousands of people were killed in cold blood, and a justice system in the Philippines that has consistently failed them,” he said.

For families of the drug war victims, the decision “affirms that their voices have been heard and their persistence is not in vain,” Santos said, stressing that he hoped that the court’s decision signaled that the years of impunity in the Southeast Asian nation were ending.

“The ICC must now ensure victims’ rights to participate in the trial and guarantee that witnesses are protected so that the trial can decide on the allegations facing Duterte. Meanwhile, efforts must stop at nothing to ensure that all those individually responsible for crimes under international law and grave human rights violations are held accountable, whether in the Philippines or at the ICC,” he said.

House of Representatives member Leila de Lima, Duterte’s arch-nemesis who was previously detained by his government, told Asia Times that the decision should have been made a long time ago.

“The wheels of justice should have not taken that long to turn. But we take what we are dealt with for the sake of the rule of law,” said de Lima, a former human rights commissioner who had investigated killings allegedly by Duterte when he was mayor of the southern city of Davao.

“This is still a great day for the fighters against impunity and state-sponsored violence. Today, we celebrate even as we grieve for those we lost to Duterte’s madness,” she said.

Duterte, who turned 81 in March, had earlier waived his right to personally attend the hearings that led to Thursday’s decision. He questioned the jurisdiction of the ICC over his person and alleged that he was “forcibly pushed into a jet and rendition” to The Hague in violation of the Philippines’ sovereignty.

He called the charges against him “an outrageous lie” that was allegedly made by his political opponents over the years. The killings however, were properly documented by the press, and in many instances, Duterte often praised the policemen and exhorted them to shoot suspects rather than be shot themselves.

In December, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the murder convictions of three officers who were found guilty of executing 17-year-old college student Kian Lloyd delos Santos, who witnesses said was gunned down near a pigsty as he begged for his life. The cops had told the court that the boy resisted arrest and fought back, leading to his shooting, a story that witnesses refuted.

Duterte’s case is closely followed here, where his daughter, Sara Duterte, is the vice president to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The two families joined forces to bag the two highest offices in the land, but the strategic alliance later turned into squabbling.

The popular Sara Duterte stepped aside to become Marcos’ deputy, but she has been impeached on corruption charges. She has also been accused of threatening to have Marcos, his wife, and his cousin assassinated.

The feud is expected to continue to reach its boiling point as both sides prepare for the next round of presidential polls two years from now.

Sara Duterte has declared her intention to contest the polls, and Marcos has yet to choose a candidate to succeed him. In the Philippines, a president only has a single six-year term.

Jason Gutierrez was head of Philippine news at BenarNews, an online news service affiliated with Radio Free Asia (RFA), a Washington-based news organization that covered many under-reported countries in the region. A veteran foreign correspondent, he has also worked with The New York Times and Agence France-Presse (AFP).