Rappler's latest stories on crime
Phishing is top PH cybercrime during pandemic – authorities
Online selling scams and the proliferation of misinformation that cause panic among the public are the other cybercrimes often committed as Filipinos grapple with the COVID-19 outbreak, says the National Bureau of Investigation NBI-Cyber Crimes Division

Ghislaine Maxwell, jet-set socialite facing jail for Epstein sex crimes
Maxwell is often cast as an international woman of mystery with close ties to both British royalty and US politicians

Hundreds arrested after European police hack crime chat network
'It was as if though we were sitting at the table where criminals were chatting among themselves,' says Jannine van den Berg

215 bodies found in Mexico mass graves
Most of the graves were located on fenced land or abandoned farms in the towns of Zapopan, Tlajomulco, Juanacatlan, and El Salto
Baguio and Benguet crimes drop during lockdown
In the summer capital, the number of crimes during the enhanced community quarantine is three-fourths less than what was reported in the same period in 2019

Tip from Australian police lead to arrest of sex trafficker in Caloocan
(UPDATED) Police rescue 3 minors, all children of the suspect

Crime down in Metro Manila, Central Luzon in first days of lockdown
The two regions' police offices report lower crime volumes compared to the same days in March 2019

Afghan war crimes probe must go ahead, ICC judges say
The move is immediately hailed by human rights organizations as a 'pivotal moment' for victims of the central Asian country's 18-year-war since the 2001 US invasion

LIST: Hostage-taking incidents in the Philippines
What are the usual motives and outcomes? Rappler lists some of incidents.

Australian special forces probed for alleged Afghan war crimes
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force says 55 separate incidents are being investigated as part of a years-long probe into allegations Australian soldiers committed war crimes while in Afghanistan

Man suspected of killing wife, 3 children in Australia fire
Hannah Clarke dies in a Brisbane hospital just hours after her 3 children aged 3, 4 and 6 were found dead in the car on a suburban street

Sudan to hand Bashir to ICC for Darfur crimes – top official
The ICC has charged Bashir and 3 of his former aides with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes

Raffy Lerma, Mae Paner chosen in Global Initiative's Resilience Fellowship
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime chooses 10 fellows from around the world, including two from the Philippines, for their work tackling extrajudicial killings, human trafficking among others

War crimes, not genocide committed against Rohingya – Myanmar probe
Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK) dismisses the findings as a 'blatant PR exercise'

China police kill kidnapper armed with explosives
The kidnapper uses a homemade gun and explosive devices, in a rare case involving firearms in the country

Anti-Asian assaults a 'neglected' problem in France
Because France bans statistics on ethnicity, there is no official data on assaults against Asian French, but campaigners say they have begun to see a pattern
Europe's most wanted online sex offender gets 20 years in Cebu
Nelson Siacor Torayno is also ordered to pay P2 million in fines

Korean man charged with murder of live-in partner
The decomposing body of the victim, who was also a Korean, is found inside a condominium in Angeles City

K-pop star Jung Joon-young jailed for 6 years for gang rape, spycam crimes
South Korean singer Jung Joon-young is convicted of gang rape and secretly filming and then distributing illicit sex videos of his female partners

Military nurse stabbed dead in Makati City
The suspect, John Louie Brosas, is a 19-year-old construction worker, whom the victim, 2nd Lieutenant Jennett Beron Aguilar, had been helping after taking pity on him

[ANALYSIS] Drug wars, mass incarceration, and the rise of organized crime
The rise of organized crime is one of the unintended consequences of a drug war. What can the Philippines learn from Latin America?

Robredo, U.N. office tackle 'best practices' on health-based approach vs drugs
Vice President Leni Robredo's chief of staff Philip Dy says community-based drug rehabilitation programs would best help 'slight or occasional' drug users who surrender to authorities

Using Magalong, VACC tries to reopen Mamasapano homicide case vs Aquino
This is despite a recent Supreme Court ruling saying Aquino cannot be charged with homicide. Chief Justice Peralta leaves it to Ombudsman Martires to decide.
[OPINION] End impunity, free expression!
On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, it's important to recognize the essential link between the right to freedom of expression and the right to information. Journalists are too often the direct targets when either right is under attack, and ultimately – we are all victims.

Global darknet child porn probe leads to 337 arrests
Authorities from the US, Britain, South Korea and other countries say they rescued at least 23 minor victims of sexual exploitation

Group transfers graft complaints vs BCDA exec from PACC to Ombudsman
(UPDATED) Citizens Crime Watch says both the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission and Civil Service Commission 'seem to be acting slowly' on the anti-crime group's fight against corruption

From 1,914 to 19: PNP resumes hunt vs GCTA-freed convicts
The Philippine National Police resumes its Tokhang-style hunt for convicts freed through the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance law

Guevarra: Surrender of qualified convicts 'phenomenal'
Around 25 convicts who surrendered will be freed Thursday after verification they are qualified for release
Group files graft, usurpation of authority complaints vs BCDA exec
Citizens Crime Watch files a complaint before the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission

DOJ scrambling to release qualified convicts 'who should not have surrendered'
The Department of Justice says it will give second priority to convicts who were either acquitted or granted parole
Bloody weekend for crime-plagued Israeli Arab towns
Israeli police probe 4 shooting deaths within 24 hours in Arab Israeli towns following elections in the country

New IRR could risk GCTA of qualified convicts
'That is the burden that the implementors of the law would have to assume,' says Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete
Qualified convicts surrender, won't leave Bilibid without clearance
'They are asking for a certification from the BuCor that they will no longer be the subject of rearrest,' says Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete
Confusion abounds as DOJ rushes final arrest list of convicts
The Department of Justice is counting on the promise of the Philippine National Police that it will carry out the rearrests peacefully

DOJ suspends rearrest of convicts, but cops already picked up a few
Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete announces on the radio early Friday morning that the rearrest should be suspended, but cops already started rearresting at midnight

With Duterte’s blessing, cops hunt convicts with defective arrest list
Without warrants, police commence their hunt for convicts freed through the GCTA with a rushed and unchecked list from the Bureau of Corrections
Prepare for Tokhang: Cops begin hunting convicts
Reminiscent of the controversial Oplan Tokhang, cops will go to the addresses of the remaining hundreds of GCTA-freed heinous crime convicts, knock on their doors, and arrest them
Ombudsman Martires: Convicts can be rearrested without warrant
The Ombudsman agrees with the position of the Duterte government – contrary to various legal opinions that a rearrest must have a court order
Senate panels push for separate jail for heinous crime convicts
A total of 15 senators sign the committee report recommending 3 maximum penal institutions for heinous crime convicts – one each in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao

PH gears for manhunt of over 900 heinous crime convicts
Duterte is offering P1 million in exchange for the heads of heinous crime convicts 'dead or alive.' His men are quick to clarify that the President does not mean it literally.

In new IRR, heinous crime convicts after 2013 cannot avail of any GCTA
Those charged with heinous crimes and detained before 2013 can avail of the much lesser good conduct time allowance under the Revised Penal Code. Issues of equal protection and the ex-post facto law may come up.

Over 500 GCTA-freed convicts back in jail
The update comes 9 days after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered prisoners released through the controversial GCTA law to surrender or be hunted down by cops

IN NUMBERS: The freed 1,914 heinous crime convicts
Rappler obtains and analyzes the list of 1,914 heinous crime convicts the Duterte government says were released because of the GCTA law. This is what we found.

At least 15 foreigners jailed for heinous drug crimes freed through GCTA
It’s not only the 4 ‘Chinese drug lords’ named by Senator Panfilo Lacson

With smuggled phones, drug lords 'still control operations' from Bilibid
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption says detained drug lords still manage to have cell phones, while some inmates 'post openly' on Facebook too, according to Senator Panfilo Lacson

PNP also rearrests prisoners not convicted of heinous crimes
Freed prisoners convicted of carnapping and robbery – which are not heinous crimes – are arrested again

2 Chiong murder convicts out on GCTA surrender to authorities
The 3rd freed convict is expected to turn himself in next week, Justice Secretary Guevarra says

IN NUMBERS: Freed convicts rearrested amid GCTA mess
(3rd UPDATE) After the threat of police pursuit from President Rodrigo Duterte himself, released heinous crime convicts surrender to the Philippine National Police across the Philippines

Legal issues hound Duterte order for 1,914 convicts to surrender
Justice Secretary Guevarra says convicts freed under the GCTA law can be considered evading sentence, but law professor Ted Te says the government must go to court to go after the convicts
Heinous crime convicts still entitled to lesser GCTA – Guevarra
Heinous crime convicts, recidivists, and habitual delinquents can still avail of good conduct time allowance – though at a lesser rate – under the Revised Penal Code