During the third day of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) confirmation of charges hearing, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s lead defense lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, argued that the number of drug war deaths cited by prosecutors should be considered “minimal” and not indicative of a widespread, state-sponsored campaign of unlawful killings.
Kaufman stressed that Duterte never directly ordered the killing of drug suspects and that the prosecution’s figures were taken out of context.
Moreover, he pointed to official data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), acknowledging that 5,281 drug personalities died in anti-drug operations during the first two and a half years of Duterte’s presidency. However, he argued that this should be weighed against the far larger number of arrests and operations conducted—claiming deaths made up only a small proportion.
He said this demonstrates the figures were “minimal” relative to enforcement activity, and criticized the prosecution for not properly contextualizing its own statistics.
The defense also repeatedly denied that Duterte’s often harsh public rhetoric amounted to criminal incitement, telling judges there was no “smoking gun” to link his words or actions to specific killings among the 49 charged incidents. Kaufman underscored the legal argument that this lack of direct linkage undermines the prosecution’s case for crimes against humanity.
But ICC prosecutors, led in part by Trial Lawyer Robynne Croft, have presented a sharply different narrative. Croft told the court that Duterte and key figures in his administration fostered a systematic and widespread campaign against alleged drug users and dealers, outlining a “common plan” allegedly designed to “neutralize” suspected criminals through violence and highlighting that police and allied actors exercised broad control over law enforcement agencies.
She cited the same 5,281 figure from PDEA as part of broader evidence that such killings were part of an orchestrated pattern under Duterte’s leadership.
Human rights monitors and independent researchers have estimated even higher death tolls related to the campaign—with police figures around 6,200 fatalities and some civic groups suggesting figures up to 30,000 deaths over Duterte’s term from 2016 to2022—much of it outside official tallies.
