The creation of an international special tribunal for Putin and his entourage – the position of Western countries

Ukraine insists on the creation of a special international tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Its creation was supported by the European Parliament and the parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe, NATO and the OSCE. However, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Karim Khan, opposed such a decision, because he believes that the ICC itself can consider these war crimes, according to FREEDOM.

Karim Khan condemned the EU initiative to create a special tribunal to investigate Russian crimes in Ukraine.

“The EU misinterpreted the law. Instead of fragmentation, we should work on consolidation,” the Voice of America quotes the chief prosecutor of the ICC.

Earlier, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the creation of a special court. She stressed that it is important to obtain UN clearance in order to avoid problems with immunity for Russian President Vladimir Putin, since heads of state are usually not subject to jurisdiction while they are in office.

“Russia must pay for its terrible crimes, including the crime of aggression against a sovereign state. And that is why, while continuing to support the ICC, we propose the creation of a specialized court, with the support of the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute the Russian crime of aggression. We are ready to start working with the international community to get the widest possible international support for this specialized court. Russia must also pay financially for the devastation it has caused. The damage done to Ukraine is estimated at 600 billion euros,” von der Leyen said.

Karim Khan acknowledged that the ICC would not be able to bring the Russian president to justice for the aggression, but other officials could be put on trial for war crimes and the genocide of the Ukrainian people.

“The International Criminal Court cannot prosecute for crimes of aggression, since neither Russia nor Ukraine have ratified the Rome Charter, so it is impossible to prosecute the current leadership for crimes of aggression. Therefore, the creation of a special tribunal is important, and this will make it possible to bring the top leadership to justice for the crimes of aggression, so the position of Ukraine should be supported here, ”explained international lawyer Oleg Gorbachev.

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron also said in a joint statement on December 1 that they intend to hold Russia accountable for widely documented atrocities and war crimes.

“He miscalculated everything at first. He thought that the Russian-speaking part of the Ukrainian population would welcome him with open arms. One way to end this war, the rational way, is for Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine, number one. But it looks like he’s not going to do it. He pays very dearly for not being able to do this, so he is committing an incredible, incredible massacre on the civilian population of Ukraine, bombing kindergartens, hospitals, orphanages, ”Biden said.

France has already begun work on the creation of a special tribunal for Russia’s crimes against Ukraine. This was stated by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

“The fight against impunity for crimes committed in Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression is a priority for France. We have mobilized to support both the Ukrainian justice system and the International Criminal Court, which have the right to conduct impartial and independent investigations to ensure that those responsible for these crimes are brought to justice.”

The Baltic countries also supported the creation of such a tribunal. The Permanent Representative of Latvia to the UN, Janis Karklins, supported the initiative and added that Lithuania and Estonia adhere to the same position.

“While there is no international court or tribunal capable of holding the supreme political and military command of Russia accountable for committing these crimes of aggression against Ukraine, a special international tribunal should be created to punish Russia for the crime of aggression against Ukraine to fill this legal gap,” he said. permanent representative at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, as of December 6, more than 51,000 crimes of aggression and war crimes were registered, 18,000 against national security. During Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 444 children were killed and 853 wounded. And the numbers are growing every day.

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