Could ICC Bring Putin To Justice Over Ukraine? – Free PDF Download

What’s happening?

• Amid mounting calls to prosecute Russian president Vladimir Putin, the International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this month launched an investigation into the alleged war crimes committed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• The West has collectively condemned the invasion, imposing a gamut of aggressive sanctions in a bid to compel Moscow to reverse course.
• Undeterred, Russia has continued its attack on Ukraine, resulting in thousands of deaths and an unprecedented refugee crisis.
• “All people who came to our land, all people who gave those orders, all soldiers who were shooting—they are all war criminals,”
• Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with ABC News.
• The US too has stressed on multiple occasions that war crimes have been committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• But experts say despite the growing list of allegations, a full-blown conviction in a situation like this could prove to be elusive.
• If the ICC’s track record is anything to go by, it is likely to take years, if at all.
• In the last two decades, the ICC has convicted merely 10 individuals.

What is war crime?

• Following requests from 40 member states, the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan on March 2 announced that he would be launching an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine.
• The ICC lays down clear definitions of what qualifies as a genocide, war crime, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
• These definitions are included in a treaty called the Rome Statute, which forms the foundation of the ICC.
• As per its guidelines, targeting civilian populations, violating the Geneva Conventions, and targeting specific groups of people all qualify as war crimes.
• War crimes also include murder, mutilation, cruel treatment, taking hostages, rape and sexual slavery, the ICC’s guidelines state.
• International humanitarian law also prohibits the use of weapons that can cause indiscriminate suffering, such as anti-personnel landmines and chemical or biological weapons.

How does the ICC function?

• The ICC, which is based in the Hague in the Netherlands, operates independently and can prosecute individuals for four primary offences: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression.
• Nearly every country in the world — 123 in all — fall under the ICC’s jurisdiction and have signed the Rome Statute.
• But there are some notable exceptions. Around 31 countries — including the US, Russia and Ukraine — have signed the treaty but have not ratified it.

• Russia pulled out of the court in 2016 after the ICC’s verdict on Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014.
• The court tries individuals and not countries.
• Any individual accused of a crime from a country that falls under the ICC’s jurisdiction can be tried.
• The ICC generally tries top officials and leaders who hold the most responsibility.
• In the case of the war in Ukraine, investigators will look into both past and present allegations. This is likely to include the war crimes that Putin ordered during Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

• If there is enough evidence, ICC judges will issue arrest warrants to bring the accused to trial.
• Since Russia is not a member of the court, it is unlikely that he will show up on his own.
• He would either have to be handed over by Russian forces or taken into custody outside Russia.
• Either a national government or the UN Security Council can refer cases to the ICC for investigation. Since Russia is a permanent member of the UNSC, it has veto power and can thus stall its actions.

Which Russian actions are being called war crimes?

• Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has accused Russian fighter jets of indiscriminately opening fire on civilian targets across the country.
• The US has also called the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant a “war crime.”
• Earlier this month NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Russia was using cluster bombs in Ukraine.
• Human rights organisations have long condemned the use of cluster bombs due to the risk of harm to civilians.
• Russia has also been accused of striking a maternity hospital in Mariupol.
• “People, children are under the wreckage,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted after the incident, calling it an “atrocity.”

Q) Consider the following statements about International court of Justice (ICJ) is correct?

1. Settles disputes between member states only
2. It gives binding decision on legal issues

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 & 2
4. None of the above

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