Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has admitted under oath that he oversaw a “death squad” of gangsters he used to target people while he served as mayor of the southern city of Davao. Duterte made the admission during testimony Monday to a Philippines Senate inquiry into widespread extrajudicial police and vigilante killings carried out under Duterte’s so-called war on drugs.

Rodrigo Duterte: “I have a death squad. A death squad. Seven of them. But they are [not] the police. They were gangsters. I command one of the gangsters, 'Kill that, because if you don't, I will kill you.’”

A United Nations report found at least 8,600 people were killed in the drug war unleashed by Duterte, with some estimates suggesting the true toll could be three times higher. The International Criminal Court in The Hague is investigating Duterte for possible “crimes against humanity” committed under his rule.