The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) stands in solidarity with the Filipino people in marking a historic moment in the pursuit of justice. Former President Rodrigo Duterte, the chief architect of the brutal War on Drugs that claimed thousands of lives, has been served a warrant of arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) through the Interpol earlier today on charges of crimes against humanity. This is a long-overdue but welcome first step towards accountability for the grave human rights violations committed by his regime.
The state-sponsored war on drugs that was launched on June 30, 2016 disproportionately targeted the poor and the youth, leading to extrajudicial killings that robbed countless families of their loved ones. Among them were 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos and 3-year-old Myca Ulpina—young lives cut short by state-sponsored violence. Their stories, and those of thousands more, remind us of the urgent need for justice and accountability. Duterte has enjoyed years of impunity after his regime, but we hope that today marks the permanent end of his immunity from punishment and the beginning of justice for all the lives lost.
IUSY strongly welcomes this development and calls on the international community to remain vigilant in ensuring that Duterte is held fully accountable for his crimes. We call on the Philippine government to ensure there are no impediments to Duterte’s trial in the Hague and that they full cooperate in providing evidence to his crimes. We demand immediate justice for the victims and their families, who have suffered years of grief, trauma, and hopelessness, that they are supported in their pursuit for justice and they be allowed to rebuild their lives. We are one with the progressive actors in the Philippines, and our comrades from Akbayan Youth, who continue to fight against dictatorship and violence.
