Summary
Highlights
The victims of Mr. Duterte's anti-drug campaign were primarily from low-income, high-density urban communities in the Philippines. Their homes were often flimsy, made of scavenged materials, and housed multiple generations due to poverty. Victims were typically minimum wage earners, often making around $8 USD a day, which was insufficient to support their families and extended dependents. This pre-existing vulnerability exacerbated the harm they suffered from the campaign.
Mr. Duterte publicly dehumanized victims to justify their eventual killings, declaring that 'human rights cannot be used as a shield' for those perceived to be destroying the country with drugs. Victims were murdered in their homes, often in front of family members, labeled as drug users or pushers without legal process. Cases of forceful separation from mothers and pleas for life were common. The 'house-to-house visitations' (Project Tokhang) described in police memos show a systematic approach to targeting individuals in their homes. After killings, victims were further dehumanized by false 'nanlaban' narratives, claiming they fought back, with evidence like drugs and guns often planted. This process left victims stigmatized as 'natokhang' (killed in Tokhang) and as 'nanlaban' (fought back).
Surviving family members experienced severe trauma, including illegal imprisonment on fabricated charges, separation from loved ones during raids, and the horror of witnessing murders. They are socially stigmatized within their communities, often avoided out of fear, leading to isolation and displacement. Children of victims suffer immensely, facing bullying and psychological issues. The loss of breadwinners pushes families into deeper poverty, leading to extreme socioeconomic dislocation and the breakdown of family structures. The campaign also destroyed trust within communities, instilling widespread terror.
Victims view these proceedings as their first step towards truth and justice, crucial amidst a culture of denial where drug war murders are often dismissed as fake news or justified. They believe their murdered loved ones suffered crimes against humanity. They seek confirmation of charges against Duterte to actualize their right to truth and justice under international law, hoping to prevent future atrocities committed under such murderous policies.
The speaker, commenting on the second day of the hearing, notes that prosecutors argued Duterte's responsibility for crimes against humanity based on systemic killings of civilians through 'Operation Tokhang' and 'indirect participation or conspiracy.' However, a significant challenge to the prosecution is that the Philippine Supreme Court did not declare 'Operation Tokhang' illegal, maintaining its legal status within Philippine law. The speaker argues that if the system behind the killings is recognized as legal domestically, it complicates proving its illegality under international law as a 'systematic attack' (a key element for crimes against humanity). The speaker also points out that while the council for victims advocates for victims' rights to reparations, the ICC rules emphasize that prosecutors, not private lawyers, must prove the elements of the crime. The speaker concludes that the prosecution failed to prove a 'systematic attack against civilian populations' as an illegal act, or that Duterte specifically targeted victims as civilians.