Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has left Manila for The Hague, hours after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him over crimes against humanity linked to his brutal “war on drugs”, which saw as many as 30,000 people killed. 

While Duterte now faces international prosecution, we examine Sri Lanka’s past associations with his policies and his government’s opposition to international accountability efforts.

Sri Lanka’s endorsement of Duterte’s brutality

A groundbreaking archaeological discovery in Tamil Nadu is set to rewrite global history, with new evidence suggesting that iron smelting in the region dates back to as early as 3,345 BCE—over a thousand years earlier than previously believed. 

The findings challenge long-held assumptions that the Iron Age began in the Hittite Empire in present-day Turkey around 1300 BCE and instead position Tamil Nadu as one of the earliest known centres of iron production.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on the Sri Lankan government to take action against the ongoing intimidation of Tamil civil society actors, journalists, and activists in the North-East, as well as deliver justice for rights violations and holding perpetrators accountable.