Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will face trial following the confirmation of charges bordering on crimes against humanity by judges at the International Criminal Court.

In a statement on Thursday, the ICC said its pre-trial judges “unanimously confirmed” and have “substantial grounds” to try Mr Duterte for the alleged crime committed during his regime.

“The available evidentiary material shows the existence of a common plan between Mr Duterte and his co-perpetrators to kill alleged criminals in the Philippines, including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production, through violent crimes including murder,” the court said.

Mr Duterte, 81, is accused of the extrajudicial killing of thousands during his deadly “war on drugs” during his presidency, between 2011 and 2019.

However, the former Philippine president has rejected a trial at the ICC on the grounds that, during his presidency in 2019, the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding agreement.

A joint statement by the International Federation for Human Rights and its member organisation, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, on Friday welcomed the ICC’s decision as the first real and meaningful path to accountability for crimes committed in the context of the so-called “war on drugs” since Mr Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016″.

“For victims and their families, this decision marks a long-awaited breakthrough. It opens the way for a broader victim participation in the proceedings and the possibility of reparations if Duterte is convicted,” the statement said.

FIDH president Alexis Deswaef said, “The confirmation of charges is a crucial step towards justice for thousands of victims who have waited years to be heard. It affirms that their suffering is not invisible and that accountability is possible, even at the highest levels of power.”