The defense team of former President Rodrigo Duterte has argued before the International Criminal Court that language used during the administration’s anti-drug campaign has been misinterpreted by prosecutors.
Addressing Pre-Trial Chamber I, lawyer Nicholas Kaufman maintained that the term “neutralization” as used in official directives referred to restraining or disabling suspects, not carrying out executions. He cited Philippine National Police Command Memorandum Circular 16-2016, the police operations manual, and court records to support his position.
According to Kaufman, “neutralization can only mean the use of self-defense when officers’ lives are in danger.” He added that official records related to the campaign reflected what he described as a uniform interpretation of the term, saying there was a “coherent and consistent understanding that neutralization… is incapacitation…not a policy of killing.”
The defense also addressed remarks made by Duterte and senior officials during the period of intensified anti-narcotics operations. Kaufman said public statements from figures such as former police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II may have been harsh toward suspected drug offenders but did not amount to proof of an agreed plan to carry out unlawful killings.
Throughout the Duterte administration, authorities maintained that individuals killed in anti-drug operations had resisted arrest and posed threats to officers’ safety.
However, a review conducted by the Department of Justice covering dozens of fatal police operations raised procedural concerns. The assessment found lapses in the handling and documentation of evidence, particularly with respect to weapons allegedly used by suspects.
“It was also noted that among others, in more than half of the records reviewed, the law enforcement agents involved failed to follow standard protocols pertaining to coordination with other agencies and the processing of the crime scene,” then-Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in 2021.Duterte camp tells ICC ‘neutralization’ meant subduing suspects, not executing them
