FACT CHECK: No UN plan to ‘rescue’ Duterte from ICC custody

Claim: Former president Rodrigo Duterte will be released from International Criminal Court (ICC) detention with the help of the United Nations (UN). 

Rating: FALSE 

Why we fact-checked this: The post bearing the claim has already received 8,400 reactions, 738 comments, and 302 shares as of writing. It was posted on March 17, days after the recorded video of the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was publicized on March 11. 

The post shows a composite photo of Duterte and Shunichi Fujiki of the International Career Support Association (ICSA). It also included a photo of Fujiki while speaking behind a lectern with the “United Nations” label in front of it, implying that he is someone with authority in the international organization. 

The text on the photo reads, “FPRRD palayain. May pag-asang ma-rescue ng United Nations.”

([Former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte] released. There is a chance of being rescued by the United Nations.) 

The caption further states, “Hiling na pagpapalaya kay FPRRD, umabot sa UN! Japanese advocate, binatikos ang ICC at [administrasyong] Marcos!”

(Request for FPRRD’s release reaches the UN! Japanese advocate criticizes ICC and the Marcos administration.)

Some of the Facebook comments believed the claim, with one commenter writing, “Yes [United] Nation na [lang] ang pag-asa wala dito sa Pilipinas ang pag-asa.”

(Yes, United Nations is our only hope. There is no hope here in the Philippines.) 

The facts: There are no official reports that the UN is planning to “rescue” Duterte from ICC detention, and the post also offers no evidence to support this claim. 

Fujiki did speak at the UNHRC, as representatives of non-governmental organizations that are in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council are allowed to participate in UNHRC debates. However, he only condemned the alleged injustice in Duterte’s arrest and called on the UN to have a humanitarian review of the case. He did not officially declare that the UN is willing to rescue Duterte, nor is he the official spokesperson of the international organization, contrary to what the photos and text imply. 

Rappler has previously debunked a similar false claim on March 19. It cited human rights activist and former journalist Carlos Conde, who described Fujiki as a “Japanese nationalist activist and businessman who has spent over a decade at UN sessions working to deny wartime sexual slavery.” 

Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization (FeND), a network of activists and scholars resisting both Japanese and United States colonialisms, also described Fujiki as a “comfort women denier.” 

UN and the ICC: The ICC exercises independent authority under the Rome Statute. It has a cooperation agreement with the UN but is not part of the UN system. Based on the negotiated relationship agreement between the ICC and UN, the two bodies may exchange information and cooperate on personnel and administrative matters, among other agreements.

Article 2 of the Negotiated Relationship Agreement between the ICC and the UN states, “The United Nations recognizes the Court as an independent permanent judicial institution which, in accordance with articles 1 and 4 of the Statute, has international legal personality and such legal capacity as may be necessary for the exercise of its functions and the fulfilment of its purposes.” 

Duterte un detention: Duterte has not been released. The former president is currently detained in The Hague, Netherlands, awaiting the written decision to be issued by ICC judges after the conclusion of his confirmation of charges hearing on February 27. 

Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025, to face charges of crimes against humanity for his war on drugs, where human rights groups noted that over 30,000 individuals, including children, were killed. 

Previous fact checks: Rappler has previously debunked similar false claims about Duterte’s detention: 

• FACT CHECK: Duterte not set to be released in February 2026, ICC case ongoing 
• FACT CHECK: ICC’s rejection of Duterte’s appeal for interim release misrepresented as reclusion perpetua sentence 
• FACT CHECK: Duterte still detained in the ICC detention center 
• FACT CHECK: Duterte not released after ICC pre-trial 
• FACT CHECK: No ICC ruling allowing Duterte to return to PH wearing location tracker 

– Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com 

Angelee Kaye Abelinde is a student journalist based in Naga City, and an alumna of Rappler’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship 2024. 

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