The Guardian view on Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague: a warning to rogue leaders | Editorial

The extradition of the former president of the Philippines on an ICC warrant is an affirmation of the principles of international justice

After his arrest on an international criminal court (ICC) warrant on Tuesday, the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, demonstrated an uncharacteristic concern for due legal process. A petition was unsuccessfully filed to his country's supreme court to stay his extradition, as lawyers challenged the ICC's jurisdiction, and pleas were madefor any trial to take place in a Philippine court.

The relatives of those butchered during Mr Duterte's brutal and lawless war on drugs" will struggle to sympathise. Notoriously, many of its victims never gotnear a courtroom of any description. In 2016, months into a presidency in which thousands of Filipinos suffered summary executions, Mr Duterte readily acknowledged an indiscriminate dimension tothe lawless carnage he had unleashed. The deaths ofinnocents and children, he told reporters, amountedtoinevitable collateral damage" in his mission to clean up the streets.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.