A redacted individual will now be allowed to communicate with former president Rodrigo Duterte while he remains in custody at The Hague, after the International Criminal Court agreed to loosen one of the limits placed on his contacts.
The change came in a June 11, 2026 ruling from Trial Chamber III, which instructed the court’s Registry to enter the unnamed person onto Duterte’s roster of non-privileged contacts. Communication will proceed under the conditions already set in earlier decisions, with monitoring kept intact. The chamber put the point bluntly in its reasoning: “the current prohibitions on calls and visits between the Accused and [REDACTED] no longer seem necessary.”
The request originated with Duterte’s defense, which had asked in May for a variation of the contact rules so the former president could be in touch with the individual, subject to the active monitoring directed earlier by Pre-Trial Chamber I. According to GMA News, which reviewed the 11-page document, the prosecution raised no objection so long as the existing restrictions stayed in force, though it partly disputed some of the defense’s arguments. The Registry, for its part, flagged no concern and indicated it could apply controls across all communications if the chamber granted the request.
In setting out the legal basis, the judges noted that the rights of detained individuals to communicate are not without limit. Such contact may be curtailed where it could prejudice or otherwise affect how the proceedings turn out, or where it threatens the rights and freedom of any person. The chamber also directed the Registry to report any breach of the contact rules, or any relevant development, without delay.
While easing this single restriction, the chamber extended Duterte’s broader set of contact limits, adjusted only by the modifications spelled out in the decision. Detainees, it observed, are entitled to receive correspondence, mail and packages, and to keep in touch by letter or telephone with family.
Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity tied to the anti-drug campaign he ran first as Davao City mayor and later as president. He has been held at The Hague since his surrender to the court in March 2025, and his trial before Trial Chamber III is scheduled to open on November 30, 2026.
