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C'est un quartier « illégal », peuplé de « squatteurs ». Depuis la chute du communisme, Kamza, aux portes de Tirana, a accueilli les déracinés venus du nord de l'Albanie dans la capitale. La ville compte aujourd'hui 160 000 habitants et affirme son identité, loin des stéréotypes dépréciateurs.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Albanie, Gratuit, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, Société, Une - Diaporama - En premier

C'est un quartier « illégal », peuplé de « squatteurs ». Depuis la chute du communisme, Kamza, aux portes de Tirana, a accueilli les déracinés venus du nord de l'Albanie dans la capitale. La ville compte aujourd'hui 160 000 habitants et affirme son identité, loin des stéréotypes dépréciateurs.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Albanie, Gratuit, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, Société, Une - Diaporama - En premier

La guerre en cours au Moyen-Orient et les perturbations du transport maritime menacent les échanges commerciaux entre la Bosnie-Herzégovine, la Serbie et les pays du Golfe.

- Articles / Bosnie-Herzégovine, Guerre Moyen Orient, Serbie, Balkans monde arabe, Economie, Relations internationales, Radio Slobodna Evropa, Une - Diaporama

La guerre en cours au Moyen-Orient et les perturbations du transport maritime menacent les échanges commerciaux entre la Bosnie-Herzégovine, la Serbie et les pays du Golfe.

- Articles / Bosnie-Herzégovine, Guerre Moyen Orient, Serbie, Balkans monde arabe, Economie, Relations internationales, Radio Slobodna Evropa, Une - Diaporama

Zhang Kequn was found with the large consignment of ants in his luggage at a Nairobi airport.

Pour la première fois depuis sa création, le Lycée militaire de jeunes filles de Natitingou est dirigé par une femme. Depuis septembre 2025, la direction générale de cet établissement d'excellence est assurée par Silifatou Amanké Bouari, une nomination qui marque une étape symbolique dans l'histoire de cette institution réputée du nord du Bénin.

Situé à Natitingou, dans le département de l'Atacora, le Lycée militaire de jeunes filles accueille chaque année les meilleures élèves du pays. L'établissement se distingue par une formation rigoureuse, combinant excellence académique, discipline militaire et leadership, afin de préparer ces jeunes filles à occuper demain des postes de responsabilité.

À la tête de cette institution exigeante, Silifatou Amanké Bouari mesure l'ampleur de la mission qui lui est confiée. « Je sens le poids de la responsabilité. Cela m'exige beaucoup de rigueur, de discipline, d'abnégation, et parfois même des sacrifices »,a-t-elle déclaré à France 24.

Pour les jeunes pensionnaires de l'établissement, la présence d'une femme à ce poste constitue un signal fort. La directrice générale se veut d'ailleurs une source d'inspiration pour ces élèves appelées à devenir les élites de demain. « Je les rassure, ça n'a pas toujours été facile. Il y a eu des moments où j'ai eu des doutes, il y a eu des moments où j'ai trébuché, il y a eu des moments où j'avais envie de repartir chez moi, mais je n'ai jamais abandonné », confie-t-elle.

Selon Silifatou Bouari, l'accès des femmes à des postes de commandement reste un défi qui demande souvent davantage d'efforts et de persévérance. « Lorsqu'on est une femme à ce genre de poste, on doit travailler deux fois, sinon plus qu'un homme pour prouver que cette nomination a été méritée », souligne-t-elle.

Silifatou Amanké Bouari est une ancienne élève du Lycée militaire des jeunes filles de Natitingou. Elle appartient à la première promotion d'enfants de troupe admise en 2000. Après sa formation à l'École royale militaire de Bruxelles, où elle obtient un master en sciences sociales et militaires, elle occupe plusieurs postes au sein de la Marine nationale et de l'état-major des Forces armées béninoises. Elle participe aussi à une mission de paix de l'ONU avec la MONUSCO en République démocratique du Congo.

Sa nomination à la tête du Lycée militaire des jeunes filles de Natitingou apparaît ainsi comme un symbole fort pour la promotion du leadership féminin au Bénin. Elle incarne pour de nombreuses jeunes filles la preuve que la détermination, la discipline et le travail peuvent ouvrir les portes des plus hautes responsabilités.

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Le président de l'Assemblée nationale, Joseph DJOGBENOU a reçu ce mardi 17 mars 2026, Hideki UEZONO, ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire du Japon près le Bénin. Le diplomate japonais est allé exprimer ses félicitations au nouveau président du Parlement béninois pour son élection, et examiné avec lui, la coopération bilatérale entre le Bénin et son pays.

Hideki UEZONO, ambassadeur du Japon au Bénin au cabinet de Joseph DJOGBENOU ce mardi 17 mars 2026. Au cours de cette visite de courtoisie, il a exprimé ses félicitations au nouveau président de l'Assemblée nationale du Bénin. « C'est une visite de courtoisie. Je suis venu exprimer toutes mes félicitations ainsi que celles du Japon au professeur Joseph DJOGBENOU pour sa brillante élection à la tête de l'Assemblée nationale du Bénin », a-t-il confié à sa sortie d'audience.
Les deux personnalités ont également abordé au cours de leurs échanges, les relations bilatérales entre le Bénin et le Japon. A ce propos, Joseph DJOGBENOU selon Hideki UEZONO, a souligné l'importance du renforcement de la diplomatie parlementaire entre les deux pays. Après un bref bilan de la coopération entre le Bénin et le Japon, l'ambassadeur a réitéré sa volonté d'œuvrer à renforcer davantage les relations de coopération entre les deux pays pour le bonheur des deux peuples.

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Dauer des Videos : 210'

Haftungsausschluss : Die Verdolmetschung der Debatten soll die Kommunikation erleichtern, sie stellt jedoch keine authentische Aufzeichnung der Debatten dar. Authentisch sind nur die Originalfassungen der Reden bzw. ihre überprüften schriftlichen Übersetzungen.
Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

AMENDMENTS 1 - 402 - Draft report 2025 Commission report on Türkiye
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Nacho Sánchez Amor

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

A Manigri, une localité de la commune de Bassila, dans le département de la Donga, un affrontement entre une frange de la population et les forces de sécurité a fait un mort et des blessés dans la nuit du lundi 16 mars 2026.

Echauffourées entre forces de l'ordre et population, lundi 16 mars 2026 à Manigri. A l'origine de la situation, un incident impliquant un éleveur soupçonné de vol de noix de cajou dans le champ d'un agriculteur. Interpellé par le propriétaire du champ, il aurait brandi une machette. Ce qui a provoqué la colère des proches de l'agriculteur qui sont intervenus pour le maîtriser avant de conduire les protagonistes au commissariat de Police de la localité.
La situation selon Fraternité a dégénéré lorsque de jeunes gens ayant participé à l'interpellation de l'éleveur ont été arrêtés pour des faits présumés de violence.
Ce qui a provoqué la colère d'une partie de la population locale, qui s'en est pris au commissariat pour exiger leur libération. Des échanges de tirs entre forces de l'ordre et manifestants ont occasionné un mort et de plusieurs blessés, selon les informations. Le corps de la victime est déposé à la morgue de Manigri et les blessés ont été conduits à l'hôpital.
Le calme selon le chef de l'arrondissement est revenu grâce au renforcement du dispositif sécuritaire.
Une enquête devrait être ouverte pour situer les responsabilités.

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From George Washington in 1789 to Donald Trump in 2024, each U.S. president has left their mark on the nation and the world in various ways. Credit: Shutterstock

By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, USA, Mar 17 2026 (IPS)

Throughout its 250-year history, following the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the United States has elected 47 presidents. From George Washington in 1789 to Donald Trump in 2024, each U.S. president has left their mark on the nation and the world in various ways.

Some presidents are celebrated for their foresight, character, and achievements, while others are criticized for their negligence, immorality, and failures during their time in the White House. Ranking these 47 presidents is a worthwhile endeavor as it contributes to an understanding of the past and also provides insight into the current and likely near-term policies and actions of the United States.

Three presidents have been impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives: Andrew Johnson (1868), Bill Clinton (1998), and Donald Trump (2019 and 2021). All three were acquitted by the U.S. Senate and remained in office. However, Trump is the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, first for his dealings with Ukraine and second for the incitement of insurrection.

According to rankings by presidential historians, political scientists, scholars, and other experts based on a president’s achievements, leadership qualities, and failures during their presidential tenure, the top five presidents on the list are: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt (Table 1).

Source: According to various surveys, including the Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, Siena’s 7th Presidential Expert Poll, “American Presidents: Greatest and Worst”, C-Span 2021 Survey, U.S. News & World Report 2024 surveys, and Yahoo/YouGov Poll.

The five U.S. presidents consistently ranked at the bottom of the list are: James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Warren G. Harding, Franklin Pierce, and Donald J. Trump.

Routinely ranking at the bottom of the list of the worst presidents is Donald Trump. His lowest ranking is largely due to his presidency challenging democratic institutions and breaking longstanding constitutional norms, particularly the peaceful transfer of power, a U.S. precedent that had not been broken since George Washington first set it.

Routinely ranking at the bottom of the list of the worst presidents is Donald Trump. His lowest ranking is largely due to his presidency challenging democratic institutions and breaking longstanding constitutional norms, particularly the peaceful transfer of power, a U.S. precedent that had not been broken since George Washington first set it

A major factor contributing to Trump’s ranking as the worst president is his efforts to overturn the 2020 election outcome, including pressuring election officials and spreading false claims of widespread fraud. This culminated in the January 6, 2021 mob attack or insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, which aimed to prevent the certification of the 2020 election results.

Other major factors contributing to Trump’s continued low ranking include three notable abuses: 1. violation of his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution; 2. using the power of the federal government to threaten and punish his critics; and 3. shocking corruption and lack of moral authority.

Furthermore, other important factors include his failure to unite the country, his politicization of government, use of inflammatory rhetoric, especially against political opponents, his incompetent handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, his weakening of international alliances, alienation of close allies, and conflicts of interest with the use of the presidency to enrich himself. Additionally, his xenophobic, racist, and misogynistic remarks and tweets have been widely criticized.

The troubling statements made by the presidency include: suggesting people should inject bleach to cure Covid-19; claiming windmills cause cancer; stating that climate change is a hoax invented by China; and asserting that Tylenol use in pregnancy causes autism.

Also among the explanatory factors for his ranking include Trump’s vilification of immigrants as violent criminals, his self-promotion, and his normalization of dishonesty with 30,573 reported false and misleading statements during his first presidential term. These statements are believed to have significantly damaged public trust in democratic institutions.

His most recent claim during his 2026 State of the Union address that his second term as president should be his third term has also drawn criticism. Moreover, Trump’s quantitative claims not only push the limits of factual truth but also of mathematical possibility.

Additionally, Trump will be remembered for leaving the country worse off than he found it and rewriting the rules of the liberal international order that the U.S. itself created. In particular, as a result of his policies and actions, the populations of the closest allies of the U.S. have lost faith in the country. Pluralities in Germany and France, as well as a majority of Canadians, view the U.S. as creating more problems than solving them (Figure 1).

Source: Politico Poll with Public First.

Trump continues to insist incorrectly that tariffs are not primarily paid by importers and consumers, but by foreign governments. He has also claimed that his tariffs and related efforts have generated $18 trillion in new investments in the U.S. This highly exaggerated figure amounts to approximately 59% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2025 of $30.6 trillion U.S. dollars. This represents a rate of economic growth that surpasses the greatest periods of post-World War II expansion in the U.S. (Figure 2).

Source: New York Times.

In a national survey conducted by Quinnipiac University in 2018, U.S. adults were asked to identify who they believed were the worst presidents since World War II. Out of the 13 presidents who have served since the end of World War II, Donald Trump was found to be the worst. Similarly, in 2024, an expert survey conducted by the American Political Science Association (APSA) also ranked Donald Trump in last place among U.S. presidents.

According to an NPR/Marist poll in 2026, Trump’s approval rating is low, with only 39% of U.S. adults in the national survey saying they approve of the job he is doing overall, while 51% strongly disapprove. Additionally, the incomes of Trump’s working-class MAGA supporters have stagnated, while the wealthy have seen exponential returns on their investments.

A majority of U.S. voters oppose the actions of the Trump administration, particularly in areas such as the economy, foreign policy, and immigration enforcement. According to the NPR/Marist poll, two-thirds of those surveyed believe that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has exceeded its authority.

While it is possible for Donald Trump to achieve success in his remaining three years in office, this outcome seems unlikely based on his past and current policies, actions, and behavior. A more probable outcome is that at the end of Trump’s second presidential term, he will continue to be viewed as the worst president in U.S. history.

In summary, out of the 47 U.S. presidents, the top five according to scholarly rankings, presidential historians, and expert opinions are: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt. The bottom five presidents are: James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Warren G. Harding, Franklin Pierce, and Donald J. Trump, with the lowest ranking among the five being Donald J. Trump.

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division, and author of many publications on population issues.

 

Etienne Davignon, a 93-year-old ex-diplomat, is accused of involvement in the assassination of the independence hero.

AMENDMENTS 403 - 762 - Draft report 2025 Commission report on Türkiye
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Nacho Sánchez Amor

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

L'Association du transport aérien international (IATA) publie aujourd'hui un rapport qui démontre le rôle vital du fret aérien pour le commerce mondial et la croissance économique en 2025, dans un contexte de grande incertitude concernant les politiques commerciales. Voici les constatations clés du rapport.

· Le fret aérien a permis l'anticipation d'importations américaines d'une valeur de 157 milliards $ au premier trimestre de 2025.

· Le fret aérien a transporté plus des deux tiers de tous les biens reliés à l'IA dans le monde en 2025.

Ces activités ont soutenu la croissance de 2,4 % du commerce mondial en 2025, ce qui est bien supérieur aux prévisions initiales de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce. Le PIB mondial s'est aussi accru de 3,2 % malgré des vents contraires importants sur le plan politique.

« Le fret aérien est une composante structurelle de la résilience de l'économie mondiale. En 2025, il a aidé les entreprises à absorber les chocs tarifaires, permis une restructuration rapide du commerce et soutenu l'expansion des investissements en intelligence artificielle (IA), favorisant la croissance commerciale et économique dans une année difficile », déclare Julia Seiermann, directrice des analyses industrielles à l'IATA.

Flambée d'importations anticipées

En 2025, les tarifs moyens appliqués par les États-Unis ont atteint environ 17 %, les plus élevés depuis les années 1930, avec plusieurs changements de politique et des frictions commerciales accrues. Plusieurs entreprises ont utilisé le fret aérien pour précéder les tarifs en accélérant les envois.

Au premier trimestre de 2025, les importations américaines se sont accrues de 193 milliards $ en glissement annuel, soit une augmentation de 26 %. La hausse était massivement concentrée dans le transport aérien. La valeur des importations par air au premier trimestre s'est accrue de 81 % en glissement annuel, totalisant 157 milliards $ (82 % des 193 milliards $ d'augmentation au premier trimestre).

Restructuration des corridors commerciaux

En plus de la flambée des importations anticipées, les compagnies ont commencé à restructurer les chaînes d'approvisionnement pour réduire l'exposition aux tarifs. Les importateurs américains ont modifié leurs sources d'approvisionnement pour éviter les partenaires exposés aux tarifs, tandis que les exportateurs ont redirigé leurs envois vers des marchés alternatifs, notamment l'Europe.

La capacité du fret aérien de permettre la redistribution géographique des marchandises de haute valeur et sensibles au facteur temps pour répondre aux chocs politiques a été clairement démontrée. Durant la période d'avril à décembre 2025, le fret aérien a profité de l'expansion des corridors commerciaux davantage qu'il n'a été affecté par les corridors qui se sont contractés.

Pour les États-Unis, sur les corridors commerciaux en expansion, les importations ont augmenté de 213 milliards $, dont 174 milliards $ (82 %) étaient transportés par air. Pendant ce temps, dans les corridors en contraction, les importations américaines ont décliné de 257 milliards $, dont 77 milliards $ (30 %) étaient normalement transportés par air. En Europe, un schéma similaire a été observé : le fret aérien a transporté 48 % des gains dans les corridors en expansion, mais seulement 3 % de moins dans les corridors en contraction.

Stimuler l'essor des investissements en IA

Alors que les investissements en IA ont bondi en 2025, le fret aérien a livré de façon efficiente et fiable des équipements de haute valeur et sensibles au temps, comme des serveurs, des unités de stockage de données et des puces mémoires.

In 2025 :

· plus des deux tiers de la valeur du commerce lié à l'IA ont été transportés par air ;

· les envois par fret aérien de biens reliés à l'IA ont augmenté de 20 % d'une année sur l'autre ;

· les biens reliés à l'IA comptaient pour 53,5 % de la valeur totale du commerce par voie aérienne, tout en représentant seulement 7 % du volume, ce qui fait ressortir la haute densité de valeur de ce segment et son importance stratégique pour l'industrie.

« La rapide augmentation de la demande de biens reliés à l'IA en 2025 a été satisfaite grâce au fret aérien, ce qui a permis que les investissements se transforment en activité économique plutôt que d'être contraints par des problèmes de logistique. Comme les économies dépendent stratégiquement et de plus en plus de biens technologiques de haute valeur, le fret aérien va continuer de jouer un rôle critique en assurant leur livraison en temps opportun », conclut Mme Seiermann.

Les Guépards du Bénin affronteront la Palestine et la Guinée dans le cadre des journées FIFA de mars 2026.

Le Bénin jouera le 27 mars prochain contre la Palestine et le 31 mars contre la Guinée. Ces rencontres qui s'inscrivent dans le cadre des journées FIFA se dérouleront au Maroc.

En prélude à cette trêve internationale, Gernot Rohr, le sélectionneur national des Guépards a mobilisé 25 joueurs.
M. M.

Le Pape Léon XIV va parcourir 18 000 kilomètres, délivrer 11 discours et célébrer 7 messes dans les quatre pays prévus dans son programme officiel.

A gathering organised for the families of victims of Duterte's war on drugs in Quezon City ahead of the opening of the ICC confirmation hearing. The signs which are held up in a few of the pictures read: 'Justice! Jail everyone involved in the war on drugs.' Credit: IDEFEND

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Mar 17 2026 (IPS)

Gito* had just arrived at his father’s house in Caloocan City in the Philippines on December 7, 2016, when three armed policemen burst into the home, grabbed his father, took him outside and shot him multiple times. Gito told IPS his father had put his hands up when the officers told him they had come to arrest him, but they opened fire anyway.

Then they turned on Gito, who was 15 at the time and had come to see his father to get his lunch money for school. He says they told him his father was a drug dealer and that he would be facing charges because he was with him. He was taken away and tortured – beaten and forced to drink urine – and later jailed for three years. He and his four siblings were all forcibly separated; his mother’s mental health deteriorated, and even after release, Gito needed years of mental health help.

Andrea*, from the same city, told IPS a similar story. One day in October 2017, she and her husband and father-in-law were watching television at their home when two men wearing masks and black jackets and carrying guns burst in, shouting the name of a person none of them knew. Despite their protestations, the two men executed her husband and father-in-law, shooting them many times while they knelt in front of them. Andrea, who was five months pregnant at the time, was also injured in the shooting – a bullet hit her leg.

A priest prays at a gathering organised for the families of victims of Duterte’s war on drugs in Quezon City, ahead of the opening of the ICC confirmation hearing. Credit: IDEFEND

Left without any means of income with both the family’s breadwinners dead, she had to drop out of the vocational course she was on and spiralled into a deep depression. She eventually recovered. “When I looked at my baby, I saw my husband in her, so I picked myself up and faced life bravely,” she explained. She said, though, it is still hard financially, as she also supports her mother-in-law.

Gito’s father, and Andrea’s husband and father-in-law, were just a few of the estimated tens of thousands of victims of the brutally repressive anti-drugs policy implemented by former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.

For years, people like Gito and Andrea have fought an often seemingly futile battle for justice for their loved ones even as local and international rights groups have detailed the horrific crimes committed under Duterte’s “war on drugs”.

But a recent hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, has given them, and others, hope that they could see justice.

Both Gito and Andrea, along with other relatives of people who were killed under Duterte’s violent crackdown on drug use, were at the Hague during confirmation hearings between February 23 and 27 to decide whether Duterte should stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his deadly anti-drug crackdown.

Launched in 2016, it remains one of the deadliest anti-narcotics campaigns in modern history, activists say. While official police figures show 6,252 people killed by May 2022, human rights groups estimate there could have been as many as 30,000 deaths, including vigilante-style executions.

The case against Duterte covers 49 incidents of alleged murder and attempted murder, involving 78 victims, including children. But prosecutors at the hearing said these incidents are only a fraction of the thousands of killings attributed to police and hired hitmen during Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.

At the trial the prosecution said that Duterte played a “pivotal” role in a campaign of extrajudicial killings that saw thousands murdered, alleging he personally drew up death lists, incited murders and then boasted about them afterwards.

The court was shown videos of Duterte threatening to murder alleged drug users and boasting of his own skills in extrajudicial killing.

Statements from victims’ relatives submitted at the trial also highlighted the devastating toll the repressive policy had taken on not just individual families but also wider communities which were already impoverished and marginalised.

Illegal drug use in impoverished communities was often a mechanism, the prosecution said when submitting witness testimony, to cope with terrible living conditions. They said victims’ marginalised and vulnerable conditions were exacerbated exponentially when targeted by police and that the campaign against them targeted their humanity.

The prosecution pointed out that victims were often killed in front of their families, usually in their homes and local neighbourhoods, which subsequently became crime scenes. Following the killings, the families were left with not just lasting personal trauma but stigma within their close-knit communities.

Meanwhile, by targeting marginalised groups, law enforcement authorities were specifically going after those who would be least likely to be able to file complaints in the domestic justice system, human rights lawyers at the hearing argued. They said this was calculated to ensure no one was held accountable ultimately for what happened.

Duterte’s defence claimed the 80-year-old did not issue specific orders to kill drug suspects as part of his policy to take down the illegal drug trade in the country. They said that what actions he took were within the law. Duterte himself waived his right to attend the hearing and said he does not recognise the court’s authority.

The ICC has 60 days in which to issue a decision on whether to proceed with the case against Duterte, ask for more evidence, or stop the process against him.

Activists who were at the trial have expressed hope that the case against him will go ahead.

“It was very clear that the prosecution had enough [evidence] to convince the judges that the case should proceed to trial.

“The truth of the matter is that the evidence presented by the prosecution was backed up by true narratives by witnesses and by families themselves who saw how their loved ones were killed,” Rowena Legaspi, spokesperson for the Philippine group In Defense of Rights and Dignity Movement (IDEFEND), told IPS.

Both Gito and Andrea said they were convinced of the strength of the evidence presented, although Gito admitted he feared Duterte might still somehow not be tried.

“This is a grave concern for me. There are fears around political interference or procedural issues that Duterte’s defence may raise in an attempt to stop the proceedings. But I also trust the ICC process and the sufficient documents they have,” he said.

Activists also see the fact that the confirmation hearings have taken place at all as a step towards justice for the victims of Duterte’s drug crackdown.

“For the families of the victims in the court and those watching back in the Philippines, this was like seeing light at the end of the dark day when Duterte was the president. Reaching this stage of confirmation charges continues to at least gradually break the pain that is embedded in them,” Legaspi added.

“This case moving to trial is a step towards healing for all of us,” said Andrea.

Campaigners also see it as essential to ongoing campaigning for justice in the Philippines.

For years, domestic institutions failed to deliver justice, local rights groups say, with findings by rights institutions stonewalled, courts offering no meaningful accountability, and families of victims silenced by fear.

And while Duterte’s arrest and transfer to The Hague was a breakthrough in itself, activists say. They also point out that at the same time, his allies at home continue to push immunity bills and resolutions questioning ICC jurisdiction.

IDEFEND said the hearings are a political and moral test of whether international law can pierce impunity and whether Filipino society will stand with victims against state-sanctioned violence and a litmus test of the Filipino people’s pursuit of accountability.

“Duterte’s arrest and the ICC process prove persistence matters. Leaders cannot forever hide behind power, sovereignty, or dynasties. The law may be slow, but history bends toward accountability when people insist on truth.

“This case is not just about putting Duterte on trial. It affirms that the lives lost — mostly the poor and voiceless — mattered. It restores dignity to families. It exposes the machinery of state violence. And it warns future leaders that mass killings will not be tolerated,” Legaspi said.

“It also challenges the culture of impunity shielding not just Duterte but also his enablers and successors. Senate resolutions, immunity bills, and denial campaigns show the fight is far from over. But every manoeuvre is proof of accountability’s power: they are afraid because truth is catching up,” she added.

Meanwhile, other drug policy reform campaigners say it serves as an example of the massive damage that can be caused by repressive drug policies and sends a strong signal to other leaders implementing similarly brutal, hardline anti-drug campaigns.

“The large-scale human rights violations committed under Duterte’s war on drugs – which have resulted in tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings – are one of the starkest examples of the devastating impacts of punitive drug policies. And the Philippines is not an isolated case. Around the world, lethal force continues to be justified in the name of drug control – mostly in contexts of entrenched impunity,” Marie Nougier, Head of Research and Communications at the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), told IPS.

“The decision by the International Criminal Court to pursue the case of Duterte sends an important signal: drug control cannot be used as a pretext for unlawful killings and the erosion of fundamental rights, and that political leaders are not beyond the reach of international law,” she added.

Back in the Philippines, the drug policies Duterte implemented remain in place and there continue to be drug-related killings, although not at the levels seen under Duterte.

And nearly a decade on from when Duterte’s hardline policies were introduced, only nine police officers have been convicted. Rights groups such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) say the vast majority of those responsible, including senior officials, have not faced any repercussions.

Legaspi said there have been some bills introduced by lawmakers on possible investigations of extrajudicial killings and discussion of treating drug use as a health issue rather than criminal and looking at harm-reduction measures to combat it.

She added, though, that Duterte’s drug policies had “an impact so huge that it continues to be felt to this day”.

Both Gito and Andrea said they were hopeful the hearings may bring about some change in the country’s drug policy.

In the meantime, though, both are waiting to see what the ICC decides and hoping for justice.

“For me, justice will be fully served when Duterte has been convicted and his co-perpetrators of the drug war have also been arrested, detained, and convicted. That is justice for me,” said Gito.

*Identity protected for their safety.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The chair of Parliament's Committee on Fisheries wants to trigger the EU’s crisis and transition temporary framework due to the impact of the conflict in the Middle East.
Committee on Fisheries

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

The chair of Parliament's Committee on Fisheries wants to trigger the EU’s crisis and transition temporary framework due to the impact of the conflict in the Middle East.
Committee on Fisheries

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP