There is a loud and growing chorus of calls to the International Criminal Court to prosecute Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, the court said it would immediately proceed with an investigation of possible war crimes following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The US embassy in Kiev said on Friday that Russia had committed a war crime by attacking a nuclear plant in Ukraine.
“It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant,” the embassy declared on its official Twitter page. “Putin’s bombing of Europe’s biggest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further.”
Russia’s possible use of cluster bombs and so-called vacuum bombs in dense areas with many civilians has also been described as a war crime.
“I want to be very clear about this: Putin is a war criminal,” former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday. “He has to stay behind bars at the International Criminal Court (ICC).”
However, if justice in general moves slowly, international justice hardly moves at all. Investigations at the ICC take many years. Few convictions took place in this instance.
Listed below are war crimes and the international justice movement.
Note: Some of what is described here comes from CNN’s research library, which has compiled information on the International Criminal Court.
What is a war crime?
The International Criminal Court has specific definitions for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. Read about them in this guide published by the TPI.
Specifically, targeting civilian populations, violating the Geneva Conventions, targeting specific groups of people and others could all be potential Russian war crimes.
“One thing is certain: intentionally directing bombings or targeting civilians or civilian objects is a crime within the jurisdiction of the court,” ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
“And even if there is a military need, there is a clear obligation on the parties to the conflict not to use disproportionate force, to ensure that the ammunition used and the weapons do not have too wide a reach in areas with many civilians,” he continued.
What are cluster bombs and vacuum pumps?
The dreaded use of prohibited weapons intended to kill indiscriminately is what people are now specifically discussing as a war crime.
The cluster bomb works as follows: a missile is fired and explodes miles into the air, releasing smaller bombs that detonate one by one as they fall to the ground. See an illustration from “The Washington Post” of the artifact. Amnesty International said a Russian cluster bomb had landed on a Ukrainian preschool.
“Vacuum bombs,” or thermobaric weapons, suck oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a powerful explosion and large pressure wave that can have enormous destructive effects. Russia has already used them in Chechnya. A CNN team spotted a Russian thermobaric multiple rocket launcher near the Ukrainian border late last month.
Is Russia using these weapons?
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that Russia was preparing to use these weapons.
The US is concerned that Putin and the Russian military will become more brutal as the invasion is not going as smoothly as planned.
“Whether it’s cluster bombs or thermobaric weapons, battlefield commanders need to use great discretion and diligence in deciding how they want to fight the conflict now that it’s started,” Khan told CNN on Thursday.
“And the law is here and the court is watching, we have experts who will try to investigate the case deeply,” he continued.
What are world leaders saying?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the attack on civilian areas by Russian jets is a war crime. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Putin appears to be targeting civilian areas.
“In my opinion, what we have already seen of the Vladimir Putin regime in the use of munitions dropped against innocent civilians already fully qualifies as a war crime,” Johnson told the UK parliament on Wednesday.
Biden, meanwhile, avoided making the same statement on the same day.
“We’re following it very closely,” Biden said. “It’s too early to say that.” Meanwhile, in the US Congress, there is bipartisan support for a resolution supporting the ICC investigation.
What is the International Criminal Court?
Based in The Hague, Netherlands, and created by a treaty called the Rome Statute first presented before the United Nations in 1998, the International Criminal Court operates independently.
Most countries on Earth (123) are party to the treaty, but there are very large and notable exceptions, including Russia and the US. And also Ukraine.
Who can be tried by the court?
Anyone charged with a crime within the jurisdiction of the court, which includes countries that are members of the ICC, can be tried. The court judges people, not countries, and focuses on those who bear the most responsibility: leaders and officials. Although Ukraine is not a member of the court, the country has already accepted its jurisdiction.
Putin could therefore theoretically be indicted by the court for previously ordering war crimes in Crimea.
However, the ICC does not hold trials in absentia, so he would have to be handed over by Russia or arrested outside Russia. That seems unlikely.
What crimes does the court deal with?
The ICC is intended to be a court of “last resort” and not to replace a country’s justice system. With 18 judges serving nine-year terms, the court prosecutes four types of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and war crimes.
How does the TPI process?
The judicial process can be initiated in two ways: either a national government or the UN Security Council can refer cases for investigation.
Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has veto power over the council’s actions. It was the requests of 39 national governments, most of them European, that triggered this current investigation.
Prosecutor Khan told CNN on Thursday: “I want to emphasize that I am willing to speak with all sides, not just the Ukrainian side, but also the Russian Federation, state parties and non-state parties. This institution is not political. We are not part of the geostrategic or geopolitical divisions we witness across the world.”
What will the ICC investigate in relation to Ukraine?
In its new investigation into Russia’s possible war crimes, the International Criminal Court said it will review all actions in Ukraine from 2013 to the present.
Russia first entered Crimea, which is part of Ukraine, in 2014. The ICC was already investigating the crackdown on protesters by a previous Ukrainian government that was pro-Russian. The new reference seems to bring together all the potential war crimes.
How long do these investigations take?
ICC investigations can take a long time. A preliminary investigation into hostilities in eastern Ukraine took more than six years – from April 2014 to December 2020. At the time, the prosecutor said there was evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The next steps were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of resources in the court, which is conducting several investigations.
Why would a lawsuit in Ukraine be any different?
The international outcry against Russia is unique and could give the court the ability to operate differently, according to Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University and co-editor-in-chief of Just Security, an online forum.
“It is difficult to judge the ICC investigation on the basis of past practices,” said Goodman. “In the Ukraine situation, the promoter is supported by an extraordinary outpouring of support from dozens of countries, which I hope will be followed by an infusion of resources.”
How would an ICC case affect the conflict?
“For better or worse, the ICC investigation could affect the diplomatic space for negotiations,” opined Professor Goodman, arguing that Putin and other Russians may not want to risk arrest if they travel abroad.
The investigation could also, he argued, weaken Putin at home.
“Russians can see that this is another reason why Putin can no longer serve his country,” Goodman said.
What has already happened at the TPI?
Previous war crimes trials have been brought by special UN tribunals, such as those assigned to the former Yugoslavia, focusing on Serbian autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, and to the Rwandan Genocide.
All of this stems from the precedent of the Nuremberg trials, which brought the Nazis to justice after World War II, an action taken by the Allies including the US, Soviet Union, France and Germany.
So it is interesting that neither the US nor Russia is a member of the ICC.
Why are the US and Russia not members of the ICC?
Both the US and Russia are signatories to the treaty that created the court – meaning their leaders signed it – but neither is a member of the court.
Russia walked out of court in 2016 days after an ICC report published what CNN called a “cursed verdict” on Russia’s 2014 occupation of Crimea. The court also opened a 2016 investigation into Russia’s 2008 efforts to support breakaway regions in Georgia.
At the time, France also accused Russia of committing war crimes in Syria.
As for the US, although President Bill Clinton signed the treaty creating the court in 2000, he never recommended that the Senate ratify it.
Under much criticism, the George W. Bush administration withdrew the US from the treaty in 2002. The Pentagon and many US policymakers have long been opposed to joining such an international judicial system as it could lead to the US military to allegations of war crimes.
“The President (George W. Bush) thinks the ICC is fundamentally flawed because it puts American servicemen and women at fundamental risk of being tried by an entity that is beyond the reach of the United States, beyond the laws of the United States, and can subject civilians. and American military personnel to arbitrary standards. of justice,” said the then White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer.
How did the US support the court?
Opposing the US entry into the courthouse did not mean that the Bush administration was opposing the court itself. He supported the ICC’s efforts to seek justice for the genocide in Sudan.
There has always been an embarrassment in the way American presidents handle the court, as Tim Lister noted in 2011. He wrote of Barack Obama applauding the ICC’s efforts to try people like former Serbian general Ratko Mladic and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, though did not endorse the court by US supervision.
Source: CNN Brasil
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