Ched Rick Gatchalian

Nicholas Kaufman, the lawyer of former president Rodrigo Duterte in his International Criminal Court case. ICC-CPI/file 

 

Article (news)

Kaufman: ICC prosecution failed to prove alleged EJKs affected entire Filipino population

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17721060319481763164903394175599522939517537150385581753715037813.jpeg.webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Nicholas Kaufman, the lawyer of former president Rodrigo Duterte in his International Criminal Court case.<em> ICC-CPI/file</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Citing the International Criminal Court (ICC) decision in 2024 convicting Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz of Mali of crimes against humanity, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s defense team argued during the ICC confirmation of charges proceedings that the prosecution must prove the alleged extrajudicial killings were not directed at a &quot;limited, randomly selected group of Filipinos.&quot;</p><p>This after Duterte&#x27;s lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman argued that the alleged victims of extrajudicial killings during the bloody drug war have &quot;objectively, discernible characteristics&quot;.</p><p>Kaufman said, the prosecution &quot;rushed&quot; the application for Duterte&#x27;s arrest in February 2025, where &quot;[it] defined the attack, perpetuated by Duterte as being aimed to entire population of the Philippines.&quot;</p><p>Kaufman explained that alleged drug pushers and criminals have some recognizable traits, and can be seen as &quot;defined subgroup&quot; of Filipino civilians.</p><p>Referring to paragraph 149 of the ICC’s decision in the Al Hassan case, he emphasized that if the alleged attack only affects a small, randomly chosen group, it does not meet the standards to affirm the charge for crimes against humanity.</p><p>&quot;Let us ask ourselves whether the alleged attacks at this case is directed to the whole population or subjectively defined subgroup of perceived alleged criminal offenders?&quot; he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/25/icc-hearing-day-2-duterte-dead-list-high-profile-drug-war-kills-and-co-perps-common-plan-0922">ICC Hearing Day 2: Duterte &#x27;dead list&#x27;, high-profile drug war kills and co-perps&#x27; common plan</a></div><p>Presenting data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency showing that 5,281 Filipinos were killed during anti-drug operations between 2016 and 2019, Kaufman said it had not been proven that the majority of those deaths were done unlawfully.</p><p>&quot;In comparison to numbers of arrest and operations conducted, the number of deaths are minimal,&quot; he said, showing a pie graph indicating that 97 percent of drug personalities were legally arrested and only 3 percent were killed.</p><p>With regard to the alleged killings, which the prosecution linked to the former president&#x27;s “kill” rhetoric through excerpts of his own speeches, Kaufman argued that the prosecution failed to present portions of those speeches in which Duterte mentioned that killing would be justified only when <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/defense-brings-out-duterte-speeches-with-exhortation-to-lawful-use-of-self-defense-1855">necessary in self-defense.</a></p><p>&quot;I repeat, again for all, and for everybody&#x27;s consumption. Do not kill if you are not in danger of losing your life,&quot; he quoted Duterte as saying in an August 2016 speech.</p><p>The prosecution, Kaufman recalled, said that their evidence against Duterte could still stand even without his speeches. </p><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>PROVING CO-PERPETRATION</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Stating that Duterte&#x27;s speeches contained &quot;hyperbole&quot;, Kaufman argued that it is not enough to use Duterte&#x27;s words against him to prove criminal intent and to show that he should be criminally responsible.</p><p>&quot;There is a requirement.... The prosecution has to show which one of Duterte&#x27;s statement orders or commands, or given to specific individuals, who then went out, pulled the trigger, or communicated the command to someone else who also went out, [led to the] killing of 1 of 78 identified victims,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;That would have been the classical way to prove a clausal link between stuff that came out of Duterte&#x27;s mouth, to the deaths pertinent of the case,&quot; he added.</p><p>Kaufman claimed the prosecution had never done that.</p><p>Duterte&#x27;s defense team also raised that they still have contentions about the parameters of being &quot;indirect co-perpetrator&quot;.</p><p>To prove co-perpetration, &quot;there is a need to show a common plan, upon which the suspect and his co-perpetrators, mutually agree on a plan —  without exception—  have a criminal element,&quot; Kaufman said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/24/duterte-s-war-on-drugs-more-of-a-war-against-the-poor-victims-lawyer-2356">Duterte’s war on drugs more of a ‘war against the poor’: victims’ lawyer<br/></a></div><p>Kaufman added Duterte should not be held responsible if some civilians understood his words &quot;to neutralize&quot; as &quot;to murder&quot; or &quot;to kill.&quot;</p><p>The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I earlier found reasonable grounds to believe that Duterte is individually responsible as an &quot;indirect co-perpetrator&quot; for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines during his drug war November 2011 and March 2019.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8NhRTC6hdgM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Referring to paragraph 149 of the ICC’s decision in the Al Hassan case, former President Rodrigo Duterte's lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman claimed that if the alleged attack only affects a small, randomly chosen group, it does not meet the standards to affirm the charge for crimes against humanity.</p>

Referring to paragraph 149 of the ICC’s decision in the Al Hassan case, former President Rodrigo Duterte's lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman claimed that if the alleged attack only affects a small, randomly chosen group, it does not meet the standards to affirm the charge for crimes against humanity.

Kaufman: ICC prosecution failed to show alleged EJKs targeted entire Filipino population

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Kaufman: ICC prosecution failed to show alleged EJKs targeted entire Filipino population

Ched Rick Gatchalian,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 26, 2026 07:50 PM PHT

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Updated February 26, 2026 09:58 PM PHT

Read More:

Rodrigo Duterte

ICC

International Criminal Court

The Hague

Nicholas Kaufman

Drug war

EJK

Confirmation of charges

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