It is one thing to think Russia is in breach of international laws, quite another to bring any Russian, let alone its head of state, to the world court
, said he was opening an investigation into events in Ukraine because “there is a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed [there].” The ICC, he added, has jurisdiction because Ukraine had twice accepted the court’s mandate, once in 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and again in 2015, when it recognised the court’s jurisdiction for “an indefinite duration”.
There is no serious doubt that Russia has broken international law in Ukraine. The ICC came into force in 2002 to prosecute four main crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. There isevidence that Russia has committed at least three of those. Under the ICC statutes, war crimes include wilful killing, wilfully causing great suffering and the destruction and appropriation of property.
But it is one thing to think Russia is in breach of all these international laws, quite another to bring any Russian, let alone its head of state, to the world court. ICC rules say that both parties to a dispute—the aggressor as well as victim—must accept the court’s jurisdiction. Ukraine does. In 2000 Russia signed the Rome statute that set up the ICC, but it withdrew its signature in 2016 after the court classified its annexation of Crimea as an occupation.
That, however, may not be quite the end of the matter legally. Even if the ICC’s prosecutor may not bring a case, his investigation—assuming it goes ahead—could deepen Russia’s already profound diplomatic isolation. It might also open up other legal avenues against Mr Putin. Several European countries have so-called “universal jurisdiction” laws which allow them to bring cases against someone regardless of the perpetrator’s nationality or the place where the crimes took place.
Belgique Dernières Nouvelles, Belgique Actualités
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