Prosecuting Russian war crimes in Ukraine will require ‘stamina’: ICC chief – National | 24CA News
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor isn’t ruling out additional prices towards Russian President Vladimir Putin or his high officers for warfare crimes in Ukraine, however says additional investigation and seeing the present prices — and any that observe — by means of to trial would require “stamina.”
Karim Khan made the feedback throughout his first official go to to Canada as he seeks to shore up worldwide assist for the court docket’s mission to carry Putin accountable for the warfare crimes dedicated throughout his invasion of Ukraine.
A warrant was issued in March for the arrest of Putin and his youngsters’s rights minister Maria Lvova-Belova over the pressured deportation of Ukrainian youngsters to Russia.
“Our job is to follow the evidence, and we did that,” Khan advised Eric Sorensen in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.
“I think now it requires stamina. It requires the international community to make sure that the law is rendered potent.”
That stamina may even apply to the pursuing of additional prices towards Putin and different Kremlin officers and navy leaders, he says, which may even require following the proof.
“I said when I was in Bucha, behind St. Andrew’s Church with body bags in front of me, that Ukraine is a crime scene,” Khan stated. “I’ve been to Borodyanka and Kharkiv and Kherson and other locations, and one sees a whole variety of devastation.
“I’m going to keep going to the best of my ability with the excellent work of the men and women of my office, with the partnerships we’re building with Ukraine and Canada and many other states, to make sure that the law is felt at this moment of need with greater impact than perhaps people thought was possible.”
Khan says profitable warfare crimes prosecutions are usually prolonged, with a number of years typically passing between an indictment and a conviction.
After being charged in 2003 for his position within the Sierra Leone civil warfare, Liberian president and warlord Charles Taylor stood trial between 2007 and 2011 and was discovered responsible in 2012. Khan served as the top of Taylor’s defence in that trial, having labored as a authorized defender for years earlier than he was elected the ICC’s chief prosecutor in 2021.
It took even longer to convict these accountable for warfare crimes through the Bosnian and Yugoslav wars of the Nineteen Nineties. Both Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic have been indicted in 1995, however weren’t arrested till over a decade later and have been discovered responsible in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Former Yugoslav and Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic died in his jail cell on the Hague in 2006 earlier than his five-year-long trial might attain a verdict.
Khan additionally factors to the Cambodia Tribunal, which was convened in 1997 to carry members of the Khmer Rouge accountable for the Cambodian genocide within the Seventies. Three convictions have been gained earlier than the court docket dissolved final yr.
“There’s no statute of limitations for war crimes,” Khan stated.
“There is a presumption of innocence, but people that are innocent should answer the allegations. But if one flees and if one seeks to simply dispute jurisdiction, the allegation doesn’t go away.”
Russia, which doesn’t acknowledge the court docket, has stated it considers the ICC warrants “legally void” and known as the court docket’s transfer “outrageous and unacceptable.”
“We’ve got a strong case,” Khan stated, including the selection for Putin is straightforward: “My call is answer the charges or release the children.”
The ICC counts on its 123 member states, together with Canada, to execute its warrants. Khan notes the court docket doesn’t have a police power, requiring members to align on the significance of worldwide justice.
“As long as we’ve got the stamina to not lose focus, I think history tends to show that there can be justice,” he stated. “But if we get distracted, if we de-prioritize it, then we can erode confidence in the rule of law.”
The first true check of that partnership might are available in August, when Putin is anticipated to to attend the worldwide BRICS summit in South Africa. The summit, which can embody the leaders of Brazil, India and China, could be Putin’s first journey to an ICC member state because the arrest warrant was issued.
Khan advised reporters and parliamentarians in Ottawa on Friday that he’s assured South African authorities will arrest Putin. But South Africa, which enjoys financial and diplomatic ties with Moscow, is reportedly urging Putin to attend the summit nearly to keep away from breaking its pact with the ICC, in accordance with the nation’s Sunday Times.
South Africa is amongst 32 international locations which have abstained from United Nations votes calling on Russia to finish its invasion of Ukraine.
The nation’s ambassador advised the Canadian Press in an interview final month that South Africa is looking for to defuse the battle by means of peace talks. He stated Moscow’s safety considerations concerning NATO ought to be addressed, although added Russia ought to be held accountable for its invasion and that Ukraine’s territorial integrity “must be maintained.”
Khan says it’s changing into extra necessary for added international locations to affix the ICC and present the world a collective dedication to justice, significantly amid elevated international battle and nuclear brinkmanship by international locations like Russia, China and North Korea.
“We should feel that this is the opportunity to step up and apply the law with greater vigour everywhere in the world,” he stated.
“Ukraine is an important testbed to make sure if we’ve got the collective will to do that.”
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