Shortly before he landed in the Netherlands, the 79-year-old unapologetically defended his bloody “war on drugs” for which the ICC says there are “reasonable grounds” to charge him with murder as a crime against humanity.

Small-time drug dealers, users and others were killed without trial on his watch as mayor and, later, as president.

The official toll stands at 6,000, though activists believe the real figure could run into the tens of thousands.

Duterte said he cracked down on drug dealers to rid the country of street crimes.

However, rights groups allege that the campaign was rife with police abuse, targeting young men from the urban poor.

Duterte is the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC – and the first suspect to be flown to The Hague in three years.

And his arrival comes at a pivotal moment for the International Criminal Court.

Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and deportation on Monday was the result of an unprecedented chain of events.

His supporters allege that the ICC is being used as a political tool by the country’s current president Ferdinand Marcos who has publicly fallen out with the powerful Duterte family.

The ICC is a court of last resort designed to hold the most powerful to account when domestic courts are unable or unwilling to do so. But this case is a reminder of the extent to which it depends on state cooperation in order to fulfil its mandate – it effectively has no power to arrest people without the cooperation of the countries they are in, which is most often refused.

In the case of Duterte, chances that he would ever be prosecuted by the ICC seemed unthinkable even in 2022, when his daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte, allied with Marcos to create the powerful “uniteam” that swept parliamentary elections.

Up until a few months ago, Marcos had dismissed the idea of cooperating with the ICC.

But the pace at which Duterte was served an arrest warrant and extradited shows that when political winds shift, those once considered untouchable can find themselves touching down in The Hague.

The whole process of his extradition – from his detention in Manila to his arrival in The Hague – has been documented on social media by his daughter Kitty and Duterte himself through his aide. His plane was the most tracked on flight radar.

“I am the one who led our law enforcement and military. I said that I will protect you and I will be responsible for all of this,” he said on a Facebook video, one of many that was shared over more than 24 hours during his journey from Manila to The Hague.

It provided rare insight into what is usually an opaque process, and the world was able to follow, sometimes in real time, every step of it right down to the meals Duterte was served on board his chartered jet.

Duterte’s arrest now sends a strong signal that even powerful individuals may be held accountable for their actions, potentially deterring future abuses.

His case has also reignited debate about the ICC’s role in relation to national sovereignty, a concern often raised by non-member states like the United States, Russia, and China.

The court depends on its 128 members to fund and be the operational arm of this judicial body.

So Duterte’s headline-making arrival, followed by his first night in a jail cell at The Hague, offer the the court a much-needed win.

After serving two high-profile arrest warrants – one for the Russian president Vladimir Putin, and another for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza – which are unlikely to be enforced any time soon, the arrival of Duterte will be put forth as proof the court is capable of bringing those accused of the gravest atrocities to face justice.

It is a litmus test for the ICC’s ability to function effectively in an increasingly polarised climate.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was recently sanctioned by Donald Trump over the arrest warrant issued for Benjamin Netanyahu.

The detention of Duterte provides him with a powerful response.

“Many say international law is not strong,” Karim Khan acknowledged. “But international law is not as weak as some may think. When we come together, when we build partnerships, the rule of law can prevail.”

The former Philippines president will now mark his 80th birthday this month in the ICC’s detention facility, located in the dunes of The Hague.

The facility, once a Nazi prison complex, provides each detainee with a private cell, access to computers, a library, and sports facilities.

If he isn’t satisfied with the meals provided, Duterte has the option to prepare his own food using a shopping list in the detention center’s kitchen. He will also have access to medical care, lawyers, and visitors.

He is expected to make his initial court appearance in the coming days, where he will confirm his identity, choose the language he wishes to follow proceedings in, and acknowledge the charges against him.

Following this public appearance, a confirmation of charges hearing will follow, during which the judges will decide whether the prosecution has presented a sufficient amount of evidence to proceed to trial.

If the charges are confirmed, it could be many months before he eventually goes on trial, and years before a final judgment.

The 79-year-old was taken into police custody shortly after his arrival at Manila airport from Hong Kong.

He has offered no apologies for his brutal anti-drugs crackdown, which saw thousands of people killed when he was president of the South East Asian nation from 2016 to 2022, and mayor of Davao city before that.

Upon his arrest, he questioned the basis for the warrant, asking: “What crime [have] I committed?”

Duterte’s former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo criticised the arrest, calling it “unlawful” as the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019.

The ICC earlier said that it has jurisdiction in the Philippines over alleged crimes committed before the country withdrew as a member.

But activists called the arrest a “historic moment” for those who perished in his drug war and their families, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) said.

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but today, it has bent towards justice. Duterte’s arrest is the beginning of accountability for the mass killings that defined his brutal rule,” said ICHRP chairman Peter Murphy.

Duterte had been in Hong Kong to campaign for the upcoming 12 May mid-term elections, where he had planned to run again for mayor of Davao.

Footage aired on local television showed him walking out of the airport using a cane. Authorities say he is in “good health” and is being cared for by government doctors.

“What is my sin? I did everything in my time for peace and a peaceful life for the Filipino people,” he told a cheering crowd of Filipino expatriates before leaving Hong Kong.

A video posted by his daughter, Veronica Duterte, showed Duterte in custody in a lounge at Manila’s Villamor Air Base. In it, he can be heard questioning the reason for his arrest.

“What is the law and what is the crime that I committed? I was brought here not of my own volition, it is somebody else’s. You have to answer now for the deprivation of liberty.”

Duterte’s arrest marks the “beginning of a new chapter in Philippine history”, said Filipino political scientist Richard Heydarian.

“This is about rule of law and human rights,” he said.

Heydarian added that authorities had arrested Duterte promptly at the airport instead of letting the matter take its course through the local courts to “avoid political chaos”.

“Duterte’s supporters were hoping they could go berserk in terms of public rallies and [use] all sorts of delaying tactics… [to] drag things on until the warrant of arrest loses momentum,” he said.

The demand for justice in Duterte’s drug war goes “hand in hand” with the political interests of his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Heydarian said.

The Duterte and Marcos families formed a formidable alliance in the last elections in 2022, where against the elder Duterte’s wishes, his daughter Sara ran as Marcos Jr’s vice-president instead of seeking her father’s post.

The relationship unravelled publicly in recent months as the two families pursued separate political agendas.

Marcos initially refused to co-operate with the ICC investigation, but as his relationship with the Duterte family deteriorated, he changed his stance, and later indicated that the Philippines would co-operate.

It is not clear yet whether Marcos would go as far as extraditing the former president to stand trial in The Hague.

Duterte served as mayor of Davao, a sprawling southern metropolis, for 22 years and has made it one of the country’s safest from street crimes.

He used the city’s peace-and-order reputation to cast himself as a tough-talking anti-establishment politician to win the 2016 elections by a landslide.

With fiery rhetoric, he rallied security forces to shoot drug suspects dead. More than 6,000 suspects were gunned down by police or unknown assailants during the campaign, but rights groups say the number could be higher.

A previous UN report found that most victims were young, poor urban males and that police, who do not need search or arrest warrants to conduct house raids, systematically forced suspects to make self-incriminating statements or risk facing lethal force.

Critics said the campaign targeted street-level pushers and failed to catch big-time drug lords. Many families also claimed that the victims – their sons, brothers or husbands – were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Investigations in parliament pointed to a shadowy “death squad” of bounty hunters targeting drug suspects. Duterte has denied the allegations of abuse.

“Do not question my policies because I offer no apologies, no excuses. I did what I had to do, and whether or not you believe it… I did it for my country,” Duterte told a parliament investigation in October.

“I hate drugs, make no mistake about it.”

The ICC first took note of the alleged abuses in 2016 and started its investigation in 2021. It covered cases from November 2011, when Duterte was mayor of Davao, to March 2019, before the Philippines withdrew from the ICC.

Since taking power, Marcos has scaled back Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign and promised a less violent approach to the drug problem, but hundreds of drug-related killings have been recorded during his administration.

Duterte remains widely popular in the Philippines as he is the country’s first leader from Mindanao, a region south of Manila, where many feel marginalised by the leaders in the capital.

He often speaks in Cebuano, the regional language, not Tagalog, which is more widely-spoken in Manila and northern regions.

When he stepped down in 2022, nearly nine in 10 Filipinos said they were satisfied with his performance as president – a score unseen among his predecessors since the restoration of democracy in 1986, according to the Social Weather Stations research institute.

His populist rhetoric and blunt statements earned him the moniker “Donald Trump of the East”. He has called Russian President Vladimir Putin his “idol” and under his administration, the Philippines’ pivoted their foreign policy to China away from the US, its long-standing ally.

Marcos restored Manila’s ties with Washington and criticised the Duterte government for being “Chinese lackeys” as the Philippines is locked in sea dispute with China.

China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it was “closely monitoring the development of the situation” and warned the ICC against “politicisation” and “double standards” in the arrest of Duterte.

Duterte’sdaughter and political heir, Sara Duterte, is tipped as a potential presidential candidate in 2028. The incumbent, Marcos, is barred by the constitution from seeking re-election.

A majority of member states, including the UK, Germany and France, said that the ICC was “a vital pillar of the international justice system”.

Trump announced the sanctions after hosting Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the first foreign leader to visit him since returning to power.

Last year, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza – which Israel denies – as well as a Hamas commander. The US has condemned the court’s “shameful moral equivalency” between Israel and Hamas.

The US and Israel do not recognise the authority of the ICC, the only global court with powers to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It has also previously launched investigations into US citizens.

The ICC counts 125 member states around the world, including the UK and many European nations.

The UK, France and Germany were among the 79 signatories to a joint statement issued on Friday to condemn Trump’s executive order. Australia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy were among the absent.

Earlier on Friday, the ICC had called on its member states and global civil society to “stand united for justice and fundamental human rights.”

It pledged to continue “providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world”.

The ICC last year issued arrest warrants for US-allied Israeli leaders, and a Hamas commander, over the war in Gaza.

ICC prosecutors have said there are “reasonable grounds” to suggest Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas’s Mohammed Deif – who was killed last year – bear “criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

But a White House memo circulated on Thursday accused the ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants at the same time.

Trump’s order said the ICC’s recent actions “set a dangerous precedent” which threatened to “infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States”. It argued the ICC “undermines” the national security and foreign policy work of Washington and its allies.

The order also said the US and Israel “are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”.

The sanctions were announced while Netanyahu was on a visit to Washington.

The list of affected individuals has not yet been announced, but the sanctions could target people who work in ICC investigations. Sanctions could include financial and visa restrictions placed on individuals and their families.

The court’s technical and IT operations – including evidence gathering – could also be affected. Observers have voiced fears that victims of alleged atrocities may hesitate to testify.

The court’s inaugural chief prosecutor has told the BBC how the rest of the world responds will be most important.

“It’s a challenge for the all the state parties – for all Europe, UK, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, Australia – are they going to let Mr Trump to become the global president?” Luis Moreno Ocampo told the BBC Newshour programme.

The UN has called for the measure to be reversed, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the ICC “must be able to freely pursue the fight against global impunity”.

But Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he “strongly” commended Trump’s executive order.

He claimed the ICC’s actions were “immoral and have no legal basis”, accusing the court of not operating “in accordance with international law”.

The US has repeatedly rejected any ICC jurisdiction over American officials or citizens, and has accused the court of placing constraints on Israel’s right to self-defence, while ignoring Iran and anti-Israel groups.

During his first term in office, Trump imposed sanctions on ICC officials who were investigating whether US forces had committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

This included a travel ban and asset freezes against former chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

Those sanctions were lifted by President Joe Biden’s administration.

But during his last weeks in office, Biden also criticised the ICC’s warrant for Netanyahu, calling the move “outrageous” and saying there was no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

In response to efforts to what they described as attempts to challenge the ICC’s authority, nine nations – including South Africa and Malaysia – launched the Hague Group last month in an effort to defend the court and its rulings.

Trump’s signing of his latest executive order follows his announcement of a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza, resettle its Palestinian population and turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

After Arab leaders and the UN condemned the idea, the US president restated it on his Truth Social social media platform on Thursday.

The ICC said it “stands firmly” by its personnel and the order seeks to harm its “independent and impartial” work.

Trump’s order accuses it of “illegitimate and baseless actions”, after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, which Israel denies. The ICC also issued a warrant for a Hamas commander.

The ICC is a global court, although the US and Israel are not members, with the power to bring prosecutions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In its statement, it said: “The ICC condemns the issuance by the US of an executive order seeking to impose sanctions on its officials and harm its independent and impartial judicial work.

“The Court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it,” it added.

In recent years, it has also issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, Taliban leaders for “persecuting Afghan girls and women” and Myanmar’s military leader for crimes against the Rohingya Muslims.

The US and Israel are not members of the court but more than 120 countries are, including the UK and many European nations.

Trump signed the measure as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Washington.

The sanctions place financial and visa restrictions on individuals and their families who assist in ICC investigations of American citizens or allies.

Judges at the court said there were “reasonable grounds” that Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, and Mohammed Deif of Hamas bore “criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Deif’s death in an Israeli airstrike last year has since been confirmed by Hamas.

The Netherlands, which hosts the court, said it “regrets” Trump’s order.

“The court’s work is essential in the fight against impunity,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on X.

A White House memo circulated on Thursday accused the Hague-based ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants at the same time.

Trump’s executive order said the ICC’s recent actions “set a dangerous precedent” that endangered Americans by exposing them to “harassment, abuse and possible arrest”.

“This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States government and our allies, including Israel,” the order said.

In a post on X on Friday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he “strongly” commended Trump’s executive order.

He claimed the ICC’s actions were “immoral and have no legal basis”, accusing the court of not operating “in accordance with international law”.

The US has repeatedly rejected any jurisdiction by the body over American officials or citizens, and has accused the ICC of placing constraints on Israel’s right to self-defence, while ignoring Iran and anti-Israel groups.

While the US is not a member of the ICC, the former clerk to the court’s first chief prosecutor warned the sanctions could have “a profound practical impact” on its operations.

“The sanctions… do have the potential of freezing property and assets, as well as suspending entry into the United States of ICC officials and their immediate family members,” Zachary Kaufman told the BBC World Service.

In his first term in office in 2020, Trump imposed sanctions on ICC officials who were investigating whether US forces had committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

This included a travel ban and asset freezes against former chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

Those sanctions were lifted by President Joe Biden’s administration.

Last month, the US House of Representatives voted to sanction the ICC, but the bill foundered in the Senate.

In response to efforts to what they described as attempts to challenge the ICC’s authority, nine nations – including South Africa and Malaysia – launched the ‘Hague Group’ last month in an effort to defend the court and its rulings.

Trump’s executive order said that “both nations [the US and Israel] are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”

During his last weeks in office, President Biden also criticised the ICC’s warrant for Netanyahu, calling the move “outrageous” and saying there was no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

The ICC prosecutor’s case against Netanyahu and Gallant found reasonable grounds to believe that they “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

It also found reasonable grounds to believe that “each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”.

Trump’s signing of his latest executive order follows his announcement during a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister on Tuesday about a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza, resettle its Palestinian population and turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

After Arab leaders and the UN condemned the idea, the US president restated it on his Truth Social social media platform on Thursday.

The measure places financial and visa restrictions on individuals and their families who assist in ICC investigations of American citizens or allies.

Trump signed the measure as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Washington.

Last November, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, which Israel denies. The ICC also issued a warrant for a Hamas commander.

The Netherlands, which hosts the court, said it “regrets” Trump’s order.

“The court’s work is essential in the fight against impunity,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on X.

A White House memo circulated on Thursday accused the Hague-based ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants at the same time.

Trump’s executive order said the ICC’s recent actions “set a dangerous precedent” that endangered Americans by exposing them to “harassment, abuse and possible arrest”.

“This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States government and our allies, including Israel,” the order said.

The US is not a member of the ICC and has repeatedly rejected any jurisdiction by the body over American officials or citizens.

The White House accused the ICC of placing constraints on Israel’s right to self-defence, while ignoring Iran and anti-Israel groups.

In his first term in office, Trump imposed sanctions on ICC officials who were investigating whether US forces had committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Those sanctions were lifted by President Joe Biden’s administration.

Last month, the US House of Representatives voted to sanction the ICC, but the bill foundered in the Senate.

More than 120 countries are members of the court, including many European nations, but the US nor Israel are not.

The ICC is a court of last resort and is meant to intervene only when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.

Trump’s executive order said that “both nations [the US and Israel] are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”.

During his last weeks in office, President Biden also criticised the ICC’s warrant for Netanyahu, calling the move “outrageous” and saying there was no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

Trump’s signing of his latest executive order follows his announcement during a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister on Tuesday about a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza, resettle its Palestinian population and turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

After Arab leaders and the UN condemned the idea, the US president restated it on his Truth Social social media platform on Thursday.

“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump wrote, referring to the war between Israel and Hamas that is currently under a ceasefire.

He repeated that the plan would involve resettling Palestinians, and that no American soldiers would be deployed.

His post did not make clear whether the two million residents of the Palestinian territory would be invited to return, leaving officials scrambling to explain.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday any displacement would be temporary.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Gazans would leave for an “interim” period while reconstruction took place.

Netanyahu has praised Trump’s “remarkable” plan to re-make Gaza. On Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to prepare for “voluntary departure” of Gaza’s residents.

He said the plan would include departures via land, sea and air.

Trump signed the order as Netanyahu continued his visit to Washington, meeting lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties on Capitol Hill.

The Israeli prime minister also presented a golden pager to Trump.

The gift was a reference to Israel’s deadly operation against Hezbollah in September last year, using booby-trapped communications devices.

Dozens were killed and thousands injured in the attacks, including some civilians, according to Lebanese officials.

Prosecutor Karim Khan met al-Sharaa and Syria’s foreign minister on Friday to discuss options for justice at the ICC for victims of the country’s 13-year war.

A statement from Khan’s office said he “travelled to Damascus at the invitation of the Syrian Transitional Government”.

It said the visit aimed to discuss how the office “can offer its partnership in support of the efforts of Syrian authorities towards accountability for alleged crimes committed in the country”.

The ICC, which has 125 member states, is the world’s permanent court to prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.

Opposition  fighters with al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led a lightning offensive that toppled President Bashar al-Assad last month, and the group has become the de facto ruling party in the country.

Al-Assad who fled to Russia in December, waged an oppressive campaign against opponents during his more than two decades in power.

Human rights groups estimated that tens of thousands of people went missing after antigovernment protests began in 2011 with many disappearing into al-Assad’s prison network. Many of them were likely killed, either in mass executions or from torture and prison conditions. The exact number remains unknown.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the global chemical weapons watchdog, found Syrian forces were responsible for multiple attacks using chlorine gas and other banned substances against civilians.

Other groups have also been accused of human rights violations and war crimes during the country’s war.

The new authorities have called for members of al-Assad’s regime to be brought to justice. It is unclear how exactly that would work at this stage.

Syria is not a member of the ICC, which has left the court without the ability to investigate the war. In 2014, Russia and China blocked a referral by the United Nations Security Council that would have given the court jurisdiction. Similar referrals were made for Sudan and Libya.

Khan’s visit comes after a trip to Damascus last month by the UN organisation assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria.

The International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria was created to assist in evidence-gathering and prosecution of individuals responsible for possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide since Syria’s war began in 2011.

More  than half a million people were killed in the war and more than six million others fled the country.

Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Israel’s war on Gaza.

“The Polish government treats the safe participation of the leaders of Israel in the commemorations on January 27, 2025, as part of paying tribute to the Jewish nation, millions of whose daughters and sons became victims of the Holocaust carried out by the Third Reich,” read the resolution, published by the office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday.

Tusk told reporters that “whether it is the prime minister, the president or the minister – as it is currently declared – of education of Israel, whoever will come to Oswiecim for the celebrations in Auschwitz will be assured of safety and will not be detained.”

In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his ex-defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas commander Ibrahim a-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel has condemned the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, saying that it has acted in self-defence triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

As  a member state of the ICC, Poland is required to detain suspects facing arrest warrants if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that. Israel is not a member of the ICC and disputes its jurisdiction.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Poland’s President Andrzej Duda wrote to Tusk asking that Netanyahu be allowed to attend the commemoration “unhindered”, given the event’s exceptional nature.

Malgorzata Paprocka, the head of Duda’s office, confirmed to state news agency PAP on Thursday that a letter had been sent.

“In the opinion of the president, there is one issue – precisely because it is the Auschwitz camp, every person from Israel, every representative of the authorities of this country should have the opportunity to take part in this exceptional event,” she said.

Prime Minister Tusk, who signed the resolution, said he had received information from the Israeli embassy that the country would be represented by its education minister.

Netanyahu has not said whether he would attend the Auschwitz commemoration. He has attended previous anniversary events at Auschwitz.

Over 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, died in gas chambers or from starvation, cold and disease at Auschwitz, which Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland during World War II.