Russia: Hillary Clinton warns Putin repeating mistakes of past

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Nearly two weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and so far, over 150,000 Russian troops have been deployed, over 400 civilians have suffered fatalities, countless Ukrainian cities have been shelled, and over 1.5 million refugees have fled the country. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has now launched an investigation at the request of 39 countries.

Leaders from individual states, the European Union, and the African Union have been calling for Putin to halt his brutal invasion of Ukraine.

With the situation continuing to escalate, the world has watched in horror as Russian troops carry out savage attacks on Ukrainian civilians, indiscriminately using cluster munitions on towns and cities across the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, along with a number of other leaders including US president Joe Biden, have accused Putin of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

At Prime Minister’s Questions last week, Mr Johnson said: “What we have seen already from Vladimir Putin’s regime in the use of the munitions that they have already been dropping on innocent civilians, in my view, already fully qualifies as a war crime.”

After receiving referrals from 39 countries, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan announced the court will now investigate possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Mr Khan defined the scope to encompass “any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person.”

Although experts speak on the difficulty of using international law on Russia, the ICC does have the power to charge Putin with war crimes if it finds enough evidence he has committed them.

What is a war crime?

A war crime violates international humanitarian law and takes place when civilians are not distinguished from military troops, when harm for civilians is not minimised, and when there is unnecessary destruction, suffering and casualties.

To indict someone, the ICC prosecutor must prove the alleged crimes are atrocity crimes.

These include genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

The gravity of the crimes is also taken into consideration to determine the extent to which the crimes have been committed.

When enough evidence is gathered to establish reasonable grounds that atrocity crimes have been committed, the prosecutor may request an ICC chamber to issue an arrest warrant for the accused.

This warrant could force the individual to appear at trial, ensure they do not obstruct the investigation and prevent them from committing any more atrocities.

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Can Putin be prosecuted for war crimes?

If an arrest warrant is issued against Putin, he would be unable to travel to the 123 countries that are state parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, for fear of arrest.

The state parties span regions across Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and more.

However, an arrest warrant is not a guaranteed conviction and it can be hard to link a standing head of state directly to offences committed by armed forces on the ground.

Arguments could be made the head of state may not have known about the incidents of the ground, or a commander could have gone rogue.

Even if Putin were to be charged, he would have to be arrested in a state that – unlike Russia, who opted out of the Rome Statute in 2016 – accepts the jurisdiction of the court.

Although neither Ukraine nor Russia are signatories to the ICC, Ukraine has made two declarations to the ICC over the years – one following Russia’s invasion in 2014, and one most recently.

These declarations give the court ad hoc jurisdiction for war crimes committed in the respective country. This means the ICC can officially investigate Putin.

Admittedly, the route to prosecution via the ICC for similar circumstances has proved incredibly difficult over the years – so much so that only six individuals have been successfully convicted by the ICC to serve sentences.

In view of this, Ukraine is also exercising additional measures to hold Russia accountable, including raising the situation to the UN’s International Court of Justice.

However, this court specifically deals with disputes between countries, so Putin wouldn’t receive criminal charges directly.

The International Court of Justice is holding public hearings for the case this week.

Ukraine addressed the court yesterday, March 7, with evidence, and Russia is due to address the court today, March 8.

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