• Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte suffers from significant cognitive deficiencies.
• His defense claims these deficiencies impair memory and daily functioning.
• The ICC has postponed hearings to evaluate his fitness for trial.

Lawyers for detained former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte claim that he suffers from significant cognitive deficiencies that fundamentally impair his memory and daily functioning. This assertion comes from documents released by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which detail how his condition affects his executive functioning, orientation, and capacity for complex reasoning, according to Reuters, South China Morning Post, and Channel News Asia.

Duterte, who is 80 years old, was arrested in March and taken to The Hague on charges linked to alleged murders during his controversial "war on drugs." His lawyers have contended that he is unfit to stand trial and have characterized his arrest as unlawful, equating it to kidnapping. This scenario adds complexity to the ongoing proceedings at the ICC, as the judges have postponed hearings originally scheduled for later this month to specifically address the defense request concerning Duterte's fitness for trial, as noted by Reuters, South China Morning Post, and Channel News Asia.

It remains uncertain when the judges will issue a ruling regarding the potential continuation of the ICC case. Typically, it is rare for international courts to find suspects wholly unfit for trial, even in advanced age. Such declarations do not necessarily lead to immediate release; for instance, in 2023, a UN war crimes tribunal deemed Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga unfit for trial due to dementia, yet he continues to reside in a detention unit in The Hague as no state has agreed to accept him for provisional release, according to Reuters, South China Morning Post, and Channel News Asia.