The International Criminal Court (ICC) will launch two cases for alleged war crimes against Russia in its invasion of Ukraine and will issue several arrest warrants, the US newspaper The New York Times reported Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, the cases are specifically related to the alleged “kidnapping of Ukrainian children” and the “deliberate attack on civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine.
The New York Times quotes ICC sources regarding “the latest rulings”.
The sources were not identified because they cannot comment publicly on the matter.
These are the first international allegations since February 24, 2022, the date of the new invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and, according to the paper, are “the result” of the work of war crimes investigation teams.
The investigations lasted for several months and focused on “the abduction of Ukrainian children and adolescents” and those sent to “Russian re-education camps”, in addition to deliberate attacks on civilian equipment.
Prosecutor Karim Khan of the ICC must first present the case to the investigating judges and the investigators are still collecting evidence so that later, when they collect the alleged evidence, any arrest warrants will be issued.
The Kremlin denies the war crimes allegations, but according to news published today, international and Ukrainian investigators have “gathered solid evidence of a series of atrocities from the first day of the invasion,” February 24, 2022.
According to international judicial institutions, both Ukraine and Russia are not party to the Rome Statute.
However, under Article 12(3) of the Statute, a non-party State may submit a declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Ukraine has already exercised this right twice.
For the first time, the government of Ukraine has reported to the ICC crimes committed on Ukrainian territory between November 21, 2013 and February 22, 2014.
Ukraine filed a second complaint on September 8, 2015, granting the ICC jurisdiction over “acts committed on the territory of Ukraine since February 20, 2014”, invasion and annexation of Crimea.
While Ukraine has already brought these proceedings against Russia to the ICC, the court in The Hague can only rule on alleged “crimes of aggression” if the accused state is one of the signatories to the treaty that spurred the establishment of the international body.
Russia withdrew from the ICC (Statute of Rome) in 2016 following the invasion of Crimea.
The court in The Hague can rule on “war crimes and crimes against humanity” allegedly committed by Russian forces on Ukrainian territory, but at the moment the ICC does not have the authority to rule on “the invasion”, which is very unfortunate. makes it difficult to sit on the dock Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Source: DN
