Blog Elements – Page 43

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Rodrigo Roa Duterte makes first appearance before the ICC: confirmation of charges hearing scheduled for 23 September 2025

March 15, 2025/in News

Today, 14 March 2025, Rodrigo Roa Duterte (“Mr Duterte”) appeared before Pre-Trial Chamber I (“the Chamber”) of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “Court”). Mr Duterte is suspected of the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Republic of the Philippines (“the Philippines”) between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019. The Chamber […]

Myanmar junta troops massacre 11 villagers, most too old to flee, residents say

March 11, 2025/in News

The violence inflicted for years in minority areas comes to the central heartland. Updated on March 10, 2025 at 1:39 p.m. ET Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Myanmar soldiers on a sweep through a central village known for its support of anti-junta forces killed 11 civilians, most of them too old to […]

Rodrigo Roa Duterte makes first appearance before the ICC: confirmation of charges hearing scheduled for 23 September 2025

March 15, 2025/in News

Myanmar junta troops massacre 11 villagers, most too old to flee, residents say

March 11, 2025/in News

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Rodrigo Roa Duterte makes first appearance before the ICC: confirmation of charges hearing scheduled for 23 September 2025

March 15, 2025/in News

The Chamber verified the identity of the suspect and ensured that he was clearly informed of the crimes he is alleged to have committed and of his rights under the Rome Statute of the ICC in a language he fully understands and speaks.

Mr Duterte participated in the hearing via video link from the ICC Detention Centre, as authorised by the Chamber. The hearing was held in the presence of the ICC Prosecutor and the Defence. Mr Duterte was represented during the hearing by Mr Salvador C. Medialdea, and assisted by the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence.

The Chamber provisionally scheduled the confirmation of charges hearing to begin on 23 September 2025. The purpose of the confirmation of charges procedure is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed the crimes he or she is suspected of. If the charges are confirmed, totally or partly, the case will be transferred to a Trial Chamber, which will conduct the subsequent phase of the proceedings: the trial.

Image

Judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I during the initial appearance of Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 14 March 2025 ©ICC-CPI

Background: On 10 February 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC applied for an arrest warrant against Mr Duterte for the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape. The Chamber assessed the material submitted by the Prosecution and found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Duterte is individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.

The warrant of arrest against Mr Duterte was issued by the Chamber as “Secret” on 7 March 2025 and reclassified as “Public” on 11 March 2025. On 12 March 2025, Mr Duterte was surrendered to the International Criminal Court after being arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines in accordance with the warrant of arrest. He is currently in ICC custody.

The Philippines, an ICC State Party since 1 November 2011, deposited a written notification of withdrawal from the Statute on 17 March 2018. Under article 127 of the Statute, that withdrawal took effect on 17 March 2019. Nevertheless, the ICC retains jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed in the Philippines while the country was a State Party to the Statute.

Warrant of Arrest for Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte

More information on this case

Photographs of the hearing

Audio-visual materials:

YouTube (for viewing): Floor; English; French
Video (MPEG-4) for download: Floor; English; French
Audio (MPEG-3) for download: Floor; English; French

Questions and Answers on the Initial appearance: English; French

ICC

Myanmar junta troops massacre 11 villagers, most too old to flee, residents say

March 11, 2025/in News

The violence inflicted for years in minority areas comes to the central heartland.

Updated on March 10, 2025 at 1:39 p.m. ET

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.

Myanmar soldiers on a sweep through a central village known for its support of anti-junta forces killed 11 civilians, most of them too old to flee, residents of the area who saw the bodies told Radio Free Asia on Monday.

The Myanmar military has had an appalling human rights record for decades in its wars against ethnic minority guerrillas in remote frontier regions, independent investigators have said.

But violence over the past couple of years has been particularly brutal in central areas dominated by members of the majority Barmar community who, since a popular government was overthrown in a coup in 2021, have for the first time risen up in opposition to military rule.

All of those killed in Magway region’s Myay Sun Taw village were elderly apart from two, residents said.

“My father was left behind and didn’t escape the village. He’s elderly, so he’s attached to his home and didn’t run away. We were urging and calling for him but he didn’t follow us,” said the son of one of the victims.

“As far as I know, he was shot in the head. I feel devastated. This is my village, my people and my parents,” said the son, who declined to be identified for safety reasons.

Soldiers from the 101st Infantry Division Headquarters and three other battalions were involved in the sweep through the region that began on March 2, villagers said.

There was no battle to explain the soldiers’ actions as they raided the village, though the area is known to support pro-democracy fighters in paramilitary groups called People’s Defense Forces that have sprung up across the country since the coup, especially in the central Magway and Sagaing regions, residents said.

“They were all just civilians,” said one witness of the aftermath of the raid.

RFA called the junta’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, to ask about the incident but he did not respond by the time of publication.

The violence inflicted for years in minority areas comes to the central heartland. — Destruction after a raid by Myanmar soldiers on Myay Sun Taw village, Magway region, taken on March 6, 2025. (Yesagyo Township Info Committee via Facebook)

Residents identified the victims as a man in his 70s named Han Tin, a man in his 60s named Htay Myint, 88-year-old woman Than Ma Ni, 60-year old woman Than Pyae, 86-year-old woman Hla Ngwe, 67-year old man Kyi Htay, 69-year old man Aung Myaing, 35-year old man Thant Zin, 40-year-old man Aung Lin Naing, 70-year-old man Nyunt Wai, and 50-year-old man San Win.

Their bodies were discovered as villagers returned to the area on March 5 and 7, said a resident of Myay Sun Taw, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

Soldiers also burned down nearby Thar Gaung and Za Yat Ni villages, destroying about 600 homes and forcing some 10,000 people to flee.

Nway Oo, an official with the anti-junta Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung township, where the villages are located, told RFA that the military remains in Thar Gaung after suffering “heavy losses” when troops attempted to move into the town center.

“Now they are waiting for reinforcements,” he said, adding that “at least seven or eight soldiers were killed before the column retreated.

A representative of the anti-junta Yesagyo Township Information Committee, who also declined to be identified in fear of reprisals, noted that the military has “launched a lot of offensives in this region.

“Most villages are carrying out actions with armed groups to protect themselves,” he said. “The people killed in Myay Sun Taw were elderly and innocent. The military is malicious and extremely cruel.”

Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff.

RFA News

Spring Revolution

Civil Society Position Paper on ASEAN’s Goal of a Myanmar-Owned and -Led SolutionDecember 18, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Recommendations to ASEAN and Its Member States (1) Move beyond the 5PC to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centered solution to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s “Myanmar-owned and -led” approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar. (2) Cease all pressure on […]
The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military LeaderDecember 10, 2024 - 1:28 pm
Operation 1027 was a coordinated military attack against the junta on October 27th, 2023. It was carried out by the Northern Brotherhood, which includes the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Several months later, the Three Brotherhood Alliance held three meetings to negotiate with China on January 11 […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 15 to 21, 2024)September 27, 2024 - 8:26 am
Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 15 to 21, 2024 Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Shan State, Chin State, Rakhine State, and Kachin State from September 15th to 21st. The Military Junta committed arresting, occupying the properties, threatening by using power, and […]

Multimedia

GenocideSeptember 2, 2025 - 9:42 am
Crimes Against HumanityJune 16, 2025 - 7:55 am
International Humanitarian Law Cartoon AnimatonApril 29, 2025 - 8:37 am
အတိတ်မှ ဆိုးရွားသည့် အကြီးအကျယ် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ထပ်မံမဖြစ်ပွားစေရေးအ တွက် အာမခံခြင်း (Guarantees of non-recurrence)February 10, 2025 - 9:58 am

ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

ND Burma

Recent Posts