Duterte arrested on ICC warrant: Organisation's victory damped by failure to hold Western leaders accountable

The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte, former Philippines president, was seen as a major victory for the battered International Criminal Court.

After all, Duterte, while in office, had ordered the extrajudicial murders of more than 30,000 people.

​The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression – at least on paper.

In reality, the ICC works best when facing a weakened target.

Its victory was mostly hailed by Western media. This isn't surprising.

Over the years, the ICC has been often criticised for disproportionately targeting leaders from non-Western countries, especially Africa and the Middle East.

Western countries (especially the US and its allies) exert strong influence over international institutions, including the ICC.

And this shows.

An open bias?

The ICC has indicted 68 individuals, with most coming from African nations.

Of the successful arrests made due to the ICC warrant, all six are from African nations.

When the ICC attempted to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the US and others in the Afghan conflict earlier this year back in 2020, Donald Trump, who was also the president at the time, hit the body with sanctions.

The Trump administration strongly opposed the investigation, calling it a political attack on US sovereignty.

The procedure, eventually, died down.

Similarly, the ICC also issued arrest warrants against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in 2024, alongside an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin in 2023.

None of these bore any fruit.

The warrant against Netanyahu was historic in some ways.

This marked the first instance where leaders from a democratic, Western-aligned nation faced charges from the ICC. The warrants obligate the 124 countries that are parties to the ICC's Rome Statute to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter their territories.

As of today, Netanyahu has not been arrested and continues to serve as Israel's Prime Minister. He has limited his international travel to countries that are not ICC members to avoid potential arrest.

The US has also attempted to sanction the ICC again over the arrest warrant issued against Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, the US, UK, and NATO countries are not immune to ICC scrutiny, but political and diplomatic power has largely shielded them from arrest warrants.

What stops the ICC?

The ICC can only prosecute individuals from countries that have signed the Rome Statute (the treaty that established the ICC).

Many Western powers, like the US, Israel, and Russia, are NOT members—meaning their leaders and military personnel are largely shielded.

India and China, too, haven't signed or ratified the Rome Statute. 

The ICC also relies on cooperation from powerful nations, and since Western countries often refuse to comply with investigations against their own leaders, those cases don't move forward.

Many of the ICC's early cases focused on African leaders — partly because African governments themselves requested ICC investigations to deal with warlords and dictators.

But over the years, it has garnered accusations of "neo-colonial justice" as it fails in dealing with Western crimes.

The ICC has also been accused of being used to go after leaders from countries that oppose Western interests, while sparing those who align with Western policies.

A key reason behind it was the treatment of Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Gaddafi faced an ICC arrest warrant during the 2011 NATO-backed intervention, while Western leaders responsible for the Iraq War, like George Bush and Tony Blair, faced no charges.

Similarly, Vladimir Putin was charged for war crimes in Ukraine, but no Western leaders were ever prosecuted for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Making matters further difficult, the ICC does not have its own police force—it relies on member states to arrest and extradite suspects.

It is noted that many non-Western leaders lack the global influence to avoid arrest, while Western leaders have strong alliances that shield them.

The ICC's focus on non-Western leaders is not purely legal but also political.

Western nations often shield their own leaders from accountability while supporting ICC cases against leaders from weaker states.

The double standards and selective justice in international law is sure to dampen the enthusiasm surrounding Duterte's arrest.