Mar 17: Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova
As published by the ICC on March 17, 2023 as well as posts and commentary
ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova
Today, 17 March 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.
Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born on 7 October 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).
Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, born on 25 October 1984, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms Lvova-Belova bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute).
Pre-Trial Chamber II considered, based on the Prosecution’s applications of 22 February 2023, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children.
The Chamber considered that the warrants are secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation. Nevertheless, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the Chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorise the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Chamber.
The abovementioned warrants of arrests were issued pursuant to the applications submitted by the Prosecution on 22 February 2023.
These are all European countries, all of South America (including such Russian allies as Venezuela), Tajikistan - Putin was last there in June 2022.
Also closed to the Russian president are: Afghanistan, Brazil, South Africa, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria. If Putin were to visit one of these countries, local authorities would have to arrest him.
Nicolas Tenzer: It is also worth noting that the International Criminal Court retains the notion of war crime and not the crime of genocide (whereas the December 9, 1948 Convention could have led to this). No comment at this stage. But, hey, Mr. Xi, you will meet this guy?
There can be no business as usual. There can no further justification in western capitals for pressuring Kyiv into making concessions to a wanted war crimes suspect that is currently forcibly detaining thousands of Ukrainian children in violation of international law.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, Natalia Arno and Jasmine D. Cameron, Russia’s Forcible Transfers of Ukrainian Civilians: How Civil Society Aids Accountability and Justice- Just Security
Since the start of the February 2022 illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, countless heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed by the Russian military and its proxies. Evidence has shown bombings of civilian targets including health-care facilities, as well as rape and other forms of sexual violence, mass killings and mass graves, and destruction of humanitarian convoys and corridors. Some estimates put the number of war crimes reported to date at more than 71,000 cases.
In recent months, increasing attention has been focused on Russia’s so-called “filtration” camps. The process that Ukrainian civilians are subjected to in these locations includes screening (“filtering”) by checking their identity, fingerprinting and photographing them, searching their belongings and phones, and interrogating them, and then most often forcibly transferring and deporting them, children included, from Ukraine to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine or to the Russian Federation.
International law doesn’t specifically define a crime of “filtration.” But the actual forcible transfers and deportations of civilians, including children, from Ukraine to occupied territories of Ukraine or to Russia, the occupying state, is a breach of international law and a violation of a cluster of international human rights norms as well as other relevant statutes.
And the forcible transfers of civilians from Ukraine to Russia or Russian-controlled territory is not only a legal violation. The Russian government also is manipulating reports of the transfers within its propaganda machine to fuel a range of disinformation and nationalistic narratives, such as the false idea that it is “saving” the Ukrainians from Nazis who supposedly dominate Ukraine’s government and military.
Ukraine’s civil society, with the help of international partners, has taken on the arduous, challenging, and laborious work to help document and counter this illegal practice, as we outline in a broader forthcoming report by our organizations – the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL), the Free Russia Foundation (FRF), and the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights (ABA/CHR), respectively. The report will analyze various aspects of the filtration system and examine individual cases based on international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and international human rights law and standards. [continue reading]
