The International Criminal Court has granted former president Rodrigo Duterte’s request to add another individual to his list of nonprivileged contacts while he remains in the court’s custody in The Hague.
In a seven-page decision dated June 11, ICC Trial Chamber III authorized Duterte to communicate with the person, whose identity was redacted from the public version of the ruling, subject to monitoring and other conditions previously imposed by the court.
“[T]he chamber finds that the current prohibitions on calls and visits between the accused and [redacted] no longer seem necessary,” the document read.
“The chamber therefore orders the Registry to add [redacted] to the list of the accused’s nonprivileged contacts, under the conditions as set forth in the previous decisions,” it added.
Earlier reports said Duterte’s long-time companion, Honeylet Avancena, had been prohibited from visiting the former president at the Scheveningen detention. Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte’s lead counsel in the pretrial stage, was quoted previously that Duterte’s daughter Veronica and Avancena hired Peter Haynes as his replacement to handle the trial phase of the proceedings.
While the identity of the individual remains undisclosed, the chamber noted that detained persons at the ICC are entitled to receive correspondence, communicate with family members and other persons by letter or telephone, and receive visits.
The judges also emphasized that the court’s statutory framework recognizes a detainee’s rights to privacy and family life.
They stressed, however, that these rights are not absolute and may be restricted when contact could affect court proceedings or pose risks to other individuals.
In granting the request, the chamber noted that Duterte had not been reported to have violated any of the contact restrictions previously set by the court.
It also cited the lack of opposition from the prosecution, victims’ representatives and the ICC’s Victims and Witnesses Unit, which said it had identified no concerns regarding the proposed change.
Apart from the addition of the unnamed contact, the chamber said the circumstances justifying Duterte’s existing communication restrictions remain unchanged and ordered that those measures stay in effect.
Medical evaluation
In a separate order, the chamber has formally appointed an expert panel to reassess Duterte’s health ahead of his trial.
The former president will be examined by the same three independent medical experts who evaluated him during the pretrial phase of the proceedings.
The panel is expected to submit its updated medical report on Duterte to the Registry by Aug. 18. The parties and participants will have until Aug. 31 to submit their observations on the report.
Duterte’s trial is scheduled to open on Nov. 30 on charges of crimes against humanity confirmed by ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I. The charges are tied to killings linked to his war on drugs campaign that killed thousands during his tenure as Davao City mayor and president.
