Friday, 14 March 2025
[link removed]
** The end of impunity for former Philippines president, Rodrigo Duterte
------------------------------------------------------------
Less than a year after I joined Index in 2017, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered. Of all the words that come to mind when reflecting on Caruana Galizia – both in life and in death – “impunity” stands out most vividly. Perhaps it was a warning of things to come. Impunity is alive and well today. As the rules-based global order strains, criminals are no longer merely walking free, they are walking the halls of power. But this week, justice finally caught up with one of them: Rodrigo Duterte, former president of the Philippines. On Tuesday, he was arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and flown to The Hague.
Duterte was also on my radar when I arrived at Index. He became president in 2016 and held office until 2022. He embodied a particular kind of autocrat, one we’ve sadly become all too familiar with: vulgar, brazen, insecure, chaotic, chauvinistic and brutal. During his presidency, Index maintained regular contact with the team at Rappler, the leading news outlet in the Philippines, which Duterte was particularly hostile towards. Miriam Grace A Go, Rappler’s news editor, penned a defiant piece ([link removed]) for us in 2018, detailing the harassment journalists faced. They were regularly targeted with threats, described as “paid hacks who deserved to lose their jobs, be jailed, raped, or murdered,” and had to increase their security. A year later, Go wrote ([link removed]) of Duterte’s descent into a vicious, power-drunk figure who harboured a pathological and violent hatred for women.
Duterte’s arrest this week stemmed from his so-called “war on drugs,” which is estimated to have left up to 30,000 dead, primarily poor, young men. His brutality extended far beyond this tragic group. In 2020, we honoured one of his victims, the radio journalist Rex Cornelio, in an obituary ([link removed]) .
In the nearly three years since Duterte stepped down from the presidency, it looked unlikely that he would ever face accountability. Another case of impunity, it seemed. But Duterte couldn’t resist stoking controversy. In a recent outburst, he called the current president ([link removed]) , Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a “drug addict” and a “son of a whore.” Perhaps that expletive-laden broadside was his undoing. The rift between the Duterte and Marcos families ultimately paved the way for the ICC arrest.
This week, there will be no cheers from those who have suffered at Duterte’s hands, or from those of us who witnessed his rule with horror. It would also be premature to proclaim the days of impunity over. Instead, his arrest marks a small ray of light in these otherwise dark times.
Jemimah Steinfeld
CEO, Index on Censorship
** More from Index
------------------------------------------------------------
**
------------------------------------------------------------
Index calls for Apple’s closed appeal against the Home Office to be public ([link removed])
Breaking encryption would do away with our right to privacy ([link removed])
Serbia: One year of unpunished attacks on journalist Dinko Gruhonjić ([link removed])
Concerns expressed after year-long persecution campaign against journalist ([link removed])
Students versus the state in Serbia ([link removed])
As huge protests continue to take place, harassment and violence are escalating ([link removed])
[link removed]
** Confronting political pressure, disinformation and the erosion of media independence
------------------------------------------------------------
Index on Censorship, alongside partners at the Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, launches its annual report: Europe Press Freedom Report 2024: Confronting Political Pressure, Disinformation, and the Erosion of Media Independence.
READ THE REPORT ([link removed])
** From elsewhere
------------------------------------------------------------
** >> DR CONGO: ([link removed]) Rwanda-backed M23 target journalists and activists ([link removed]) [link removed]
------------------------------------------------------------
** >> SLAPPs: ([link removed]) Legal experts explain how these lawsuits suppress free speech ([link removed]) [link removed]
------------------------------------------------------------
** >> BAHRAIN: ([link removed]) Human rights defender Ali AlHajee released ([link removed]) ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
** >> USA: ([link removed]) Columbia University student threatened with deportation ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
** >> TUNISIA: ([link removed]) Authoritarian repression after 2024 presidential elections ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
** Flashback
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Fake news: the global silencer ([link removed])
by Caroline Lees ([link removed])
Index on Censorship, volume 47, issue 1 ([link removed])
“The labelling of prestigious media as ‘fake news’ outlets by those who are the major emitters of fake news is part of a determined attack against the system of checks and balances which define and protect liberal democracy.”
In light of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest by the ICC, we look back at an essay by Caroline Lees from 2018 on how the term “fake news” became a useful weapon in the dictator’s toolkit against the media in the Philippines, USA and beyond. Read more here. ([link removed])
** Support our work
------------------------------------------------------------
The world is becoming more authoritarian and our work supporting journalists in Serbia and promoting freedom of expression in countries such as the Philippines, USA and the UK has never been more important.
By supporting Index on Censorship today, you can help us in our work with censored artists, jailed musicians, journalists under threat and dissidents facing torture or worse.
Please donate today ([link removed])
Photos by: PCOO EDP/ PDM 1.0: J Gerard Seguia/ZUMA Wire/Alamy
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
View in browser ([link removed])
Copyright (C) 2025 Index on Censorship. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up for Index on Censorship's weekly newsletter.
Our mailing address is:
Index on Censorship
3rd Floor
86-90 Paul Street
London, EC2A 4NE
United Kingdom
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe ([link removed])
