7 hours Ago By Jairo Bolledo
window.rapplerAds.displayAd( "middle-1" );window.
rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-1" );Former president Rodrigo Duterte, who had repeatedly attacked women during and after his presidency, was ordered arrested by an International Criminal Court (ICC) pre-trial chamber consisting of all-women judges.Coursed through the Interpol, Philippine authorities implemented the ICC warrant on Tuesday, March 11, and successfully arrested Duterte over crimes against humanity.
He was the Philippine president who waged a bloody drug war that killed nearly 30,000 people, if vigilante killings were included, according to tallies of human rights groups.Must Read ICC warrant: Rodrigo Duterte used DDS, law enforcers to kill ‘criminals’ In their warrant dated March 7, the Pre-Trial Chamber I judges said they found “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is individually responsible for the crime against humanity of murder.
” They added that Duterte allegedly used his Davao Death Squad and law enforcers “as tools to commit the crimes.”Who are these judges that caused Duterte’s arrest, making him the first former Asian head of state to be arrested over crimes against humanity?Presiding Judge Iulia MotocPresiding Judge Iulia Motoc. Photo by the International Criminal CourtRomanian Judge Iulia Motoc is the current presiding judge of the Pre-Trial Chamber I for the situation in the Philippines.
She started her term on March 11, 2024, and will serve until March 10, 2033. Before her ICC stint, she served as judge at the European Court of Human Rights from 2013 to 2023, and has also been a professor of international law. Motoc also once served as United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Democratic of Congo, where she reported about crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Currently, the presiding judge on the Philippine case is a member of the Institut de Droit International, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization that promotes progress of international law.She was also a UN Special Rapporteur on Genetics and Human Rights. The judge has a law degree from the University of Bucharest, a master’s degree, and Doctor of Philosophy in International Law from the University Paul Cezanne, Aix-Marseille III.
She also entered into the habilitation in law program in Paris XI, Jean Monnet. Motoc also served as a senior fellow at the New York University School of Law from 2003-2004, then at Yale School of Law from 2004 to 2007.As a magistrate in the Consitutional Court of Romania from 2010 to 2013, Motoc handled cases on corruption, sexual violence, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
In the UN, she was member and vice president of the UN Human Rights Committee that probed into enforced disappearances and other massive human rights violations.window.rapplerAds.
displayAd( "middle-2" );window.rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-2" );Motoc was also a member and president of the UN sub-commission on promotion and protection of human rights, and co-drafted the UN report on free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous people and the UN Guidelines on Extreme Poverty.
In Europe, she was part of the advisory committee on the framework convention for the protection of national minorities, and European union agency for fundamental rights. At the University of Bucharest, she taught and became a full professor in 2002. As an academician, her research interests cover use of force, theory of international law, human rights, and transitional justice.
She also taught as a visiting professor in various academic institutions like the European Institute Florence, University Paris I, and Academy of International Law, The Hague, and the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization. Apart from her involvement in the Philippine situation (drug war case), Motoc currently sits as the presiding judge in the chambers that handle the situations in Bangladesh/Myanmar, and Venezuela. She previously chaired the chambers that handled the situation in Palestine.
Judge Reine Alapini-GansouJudge Reine Alapini-Gansou. Photo by the International Criminal CourtJudge Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin in West Africa assumed full-time duty on June 11, 2018. Her term started on March 11, 2018, and will end on March 10, 2027.
She was admitted to the Benin Bar in 1986, and worked for the Association Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) Belgium on the project “Justice for all in Rwanda.” She is also part of the International Criminal Bar. In 2011, she was named judge at the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Before her ICC stint that started in 2018, Alapini-Gansou served at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) for 12 years, then as the commission’s chairperson from 2009 to 2012. She also served as a special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in the African contintent, from 2005 to 2009, then 2012 to 2017. Alapini-Gansou holds a joint post-graduate degree from the Universities of Maastricht (Netherlands), Lomé (Togo) and Bhutan, and a degree in common law from the University of Lyon 3 in France.
She also has a master’s degree in business law and judicial careers from the National University of Benin. She also holds several diplomas on international human rights law from the African Institute of Human Rights in Banjul, René Cassin Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, and the International Development Law Organization in Rome.In the UN, Alapini-Gansou has been a member of several commissions that dealt with human rights violations.
She also headed the joint working group on special procedures of the UN and the African Commission on human and people’s rights.She is also part of the chambers that handle the situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar, and the situations in Venezuela. The judge is also part of the chamber looking into the Palestine situation.
window.rapplerAds.displayAd( "middle-3" );window.
rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-3" );Judge Socorro Flores LieraMexican Judge Socorro Flores Liera started her current ICC term on March 11, 2021 and will serve until March 10, 2030. She is also the president of the division.
Before the ICC, Liera held posts in Mexico, such as the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the Office of the United Nations and other International Organizations based in Geneva from 2017 to 2021. She also served as vice president of the human rights council in 2020.The judge studied law at the Universidad Iberoamericana and the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, with specialization in public international law.
Her publications cover international criminal law, international cooperation and climate change, among others. On top of these, she is also a member of the Mexican branch of the International Law Association. Liera was also involved in the creation process of the International Criminal Court since 1995.
She was part of the negotiations that led to the Rome Statute (treaty that established the ICC) and to the adoption of the Elements of Crimes and Rules of Procedure and Evidence. She also served as the first head of the ICC’s liaison office in the UN. “Judge Flores Liera served as advocate-counsellor of Mexico in proceedings brought before the International Court of Justice in the ‘Avena’ case (Mexico v.
United States). She has participated in the negotiation of several international instruments in the field of public international law, and she served as Chairperson of the Drafting Committee at the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent,” her ICC biography read.#ICCProcessWhat are the steps of the #ICC process?As an international court, the ICC's legal process may function differently from that in your national jurisdiction.
Learn more ➡️ https://t.co/gozbMSgLSO pic.twitter.
com/yxgUTDJA8h— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) March 12, 2025Now that Motoc, Alapini-Gansou, and Liera had already issued a warrant against Duterte, the former Philippine head of state is set to appear before the ICC for his first appearance, and then later, for confirmation of charges. – Rappler.com.
