After more than a year of international outrage at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and shocking atrocities, there’s an arrest warrant out for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The International Criminal Court on Friday announced charges against Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova relating to an alleged scheme to forcibly deport thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Read CNN’s full report about the charges and the arrest warrant.
Russia scoffs but Putin could stand trial for alleged war crimes, ICC chief prosecutor says
By Caitlin Hu, CNN
Updated 9:03 PM EDT, Fri March 17, 2023
ICC chief prosecutor reacts to Putin arrest warrant
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor believes Russian President Vladimir Putin could stand trial for alleged crimes committed during Russia’s war in Ukraine, he told CNN on Friday, despite Moscow’s arguments that it is not subject to the court’s decisions.
In an interview with CNN’s Clarissa Ward, Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan pointed to historic trials of Nazi war criminals, former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milošević, and former Liberian leader Charles Taylor, among others.
“All of them were mighty, powerful individuals and yet they found themselves in courtrooms,” he said.
The ICC seeks to investigate and prosecute those responsible for grave offenses such as genocide and war crimes.
Dozens of countries are not ICC members, including China, India, Russia, and the United States.
The court has angered nonmembers by launching probes into possible war crimes in Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, and Ukraine.
Introduction
The International Criminal Court (ICC), established in 2002, seeks to hold to account those guilty of some of the world’s worst crimes. Champions of the court say it deters would-be war criminals, bolsters the rule of law, and offers justice to victims of atrocities. But, since its inception, the court has faced considerable setbacks. It has been unable to gain the support of major powers, including the United States, China, and Russia, who say it undermines national sovereignty. Two countries have withdrawn from the court, and many African governments complain that the court has singled out Africa. U.S. opposition to the ICC hardened under President Donald Trump, and although the Joe Biden administration has taken a more conciliatory approach, tensions remain.
What are the court’s origins?
In the aftermath of World War II, the Allied powers launched the first international war crimes tribunal, known as the Nuremberg Trials, to prosecute top Nazi officials. It wasn’t until the 1990s, however, that many governments coalesced around the idea of a permanent court to hold perpetrators to account for the world’s most serious crimes. The United Nations had previously set up ad hoc international criminal tribunals to deal with war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, but many international law experts considered them inefficient and inadequate deterrents.
Author Sang-Hyun Song, President of the International Criminal Court.
December 2012, No. 4 Vol. XLIX, Delivering Justice
“Determined to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the International Community as a whole and thus contribute to the prevention of such crimes“
Preamble of the Rome Statute
On 24 September 2012, the United Nations General Assembly held a High-level Meeting on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels during which numerous delegates spoke about the importance of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In the Declaration adopted at the meeting, States recognized “the role of the International Criminal Court in a multilateral system that aims to end impunity and establish the rule of law”.1 In my remarks to the Assembly on 1 November 2012, I welcomed this statement, which echoed many earlier characterizations of the Court’s role.2
The crux of the ICC role lies in enforcing and inducing compliance with specific norms of international law aimed at outlawing and preventing mass violence.
Confronted with the extensive perpetration of unspeakable atrocities after the Second World War, the international community articulated an unparalleled call for justice. It sought to put an end to such crimes through, inter alia, the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the four Geneva Conventions and the Nuremberg Principles.
Fri 11 Nov 2022 05.00 GMT Last modified on Fri 11 Nov 2022 17.40 GMT
Across the country, fact-finding teams are tirelessly gathering evidence and testimony about Russian atrocities, often within hours of troops retreating. Turning this into convictions will not be easy, or quick, but the task has begun
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Washington (CNN) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the US will deny or revoke visas for International Criminal Court staff.
The move is meant to deter a potential investigation by the judicial body into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by US troops in Afghanistan.
Pompeo, speaking from the State Department Friday, said the restrictions include “persons who take or have taken action to request or further such an investigation.” He said the policy had already taken effect, but declined to say who had been restricted or would face future restrictions. Tiếp tục đọc “US denying visas to International Criminal Court staff”→
The ICC headquarters in The Hague. Photograph: Peter de Jong/AP
A senior judge has resigned from one of the UN’s international courts in The Hague citing “shocking” political interference from the White House andTurkey.
Tuyên cáo về các Nguyên tắc Luật Quốc tế về Liên hệ Hữu nghị và Hợp tác giữa các Quốc gia theo đúng Hiến chương Liên hợp quốc (“Tuyên cáo”) được Đại hội đồng Liên hợp quốc thông qua ngày 17 tháng 10 năm 1970 quy định “Nguyên tắc rằng mọi Quốc gia, trong các liên hệ quốc tế, tự kiềm chế không dùng hăm dọa hay sử dụng vũ lực chống lại toàn vẹn chủ quyền hoặc độc lập chính trị của bất kỳ Quốc gia nào hoặc dưới bất kỳ hình thức nào trái ngược với các mục đích của Hiến chương Liên hợp quốc.”
Philippine president vows anti-drug war campaign will continue and will be ‘brutal’ as death toll passes 8,000 mark.
Duterte has repeatedly said that if lives of law enforcers are in danger that they should ‘shoot’ the suspects [EPA]
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would not be intimidated by the prospect of the International Criminal Court (ICC) putting him on trial over his bloody war on drugs, promising that his campaign would continue and would be “brutal”. Tiếp tục đọc “Duterte: International Criminal Court ‘cannot stop me’”→
MANILA – A self-confessed assassin who testified to being in a “death squad” under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will soon file a case at the International Criminal Court accusing the president of crimes against humanity, his lawyer said Tuesday.
More than 8,000 people have died since Duterte took office in June and unleashed a bloody war on drugs, a third in raids and sting operations by police who say they acted in self-defense.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. (Photo: AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)
YANGON: The severity of the reported violations against the Rohingya in Myanmar warrants the attention of the International Criminal Court, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday (Mar 8).
Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the violations, “against a backdrop of severe and longstanding persecution”, amount to the “possible commission of crimes against humanity”.