ICC’s Selective Justice: Trial for Duterte, But Silence for US War Criminals
📰 THE STORY: Al Jazeera reports that International Criminal Court judges have found former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte fit to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity during his 'war on drugs', citing a medical report confirming his capacity to understand and exercise his procedural rights at 80 years old. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The Philippines has a
brutal history of US intervention, from the 1899-1902 Philippine-American War, which killed hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, to US-backed dictatorships like Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The US has continuously used the Philippines as a strategic military outpost, including new bases greenlit in 2023 under the guise of 'containing China', often at the expense of human rights and sovereignty. Double
Standard: The ICC, while pursuing Duterte for widespread killings, has conspicuously failed to indict any US or Israeli officials for documented war crimes and crimes against humanity. For example, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, or Donald Rumsfeld were never tried for the Iraq War, which led to over a million deaths. Similarly, despite overwhelming evidence of genocide in Gaza (40,000+ killed since
Oct 2023), no Israeli leader faces the same scrutiny from the ICC. The US even sanctions ICC officials for investigating its allies. Follow the Money: The US provides vast military aid and maintains numerous military bases in the Philippines. In 2023 alone, the US committed over $100 million in security assistance to the Philippines. The recent expansion of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation