ICC seeks warrants for Russian war criminals
Hague cases focus on the abduction of children from Ukraine and targeting of civilian infrastructure
The International Criminal Court will seek arrest warrants against Russians for atrocities committed in Ukraine as part of two war crimes cases to be opened, it has been reported. Karim Khan, prosecutor, is expected to ask a pre-trial panel to approve the warrants against several Russians for the mass abduction of children from Ukraine and targeting civilian infrastructure. It will be the first time warrants have been issued since Mr Khan opened an investigation into possible war crimes.
THE International Criminal Court (ICC) will seek arrest warrants against Russians for atrocities committed in Ukraine as part of two war crimes cases to be opened, it has been reported.
Karim Khan, its prosecutor, is expected to ask a pre-trial panel to approve the warrants against several Russians for the mass abduction of children from Ukraine and the targeting of civilian infrastructure. If he secures their backing, it would mark the first time that warrants have been issued since Mr Khan opened an investigation into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine.
Special investigators allege that Russia has abducted Ukrainian children and teenagers and sent them to “re-education” camps, and that Moscow has deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure. It was not clear who would be charged in each case. President Vladimir Putin could be charged as the Hague court does not offer immunity to heads of state in cases involving war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. However, the likelihood of him being tried is slim because the ICC does not try defendants in absentia.
It is also highly unlikely that any Kremlin ally would ever face trial because it would require Moscow to hand over anyone served with a warrant to Dutch-based court.
A spokesman for Mr Khan declined to comment on reports of pending war crimes trials by the Reuters news agency and The New York Times. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied accusations of war crimes but international and Ukrainian investigators believe they have gathered enough evidence.
The first case, according to an official briefed on the talks, will focus on the abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children by Russia. The Kremlinsponsored programme has seen the forcible removal of children, who are offered for adoption in Russia.
A recent Us-backed study by researchers at Yale University found that Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children at sites in occupied Crimea. It identified at least 43 camps and facilities where children were taken as part of a “large-scale systematic network” operated for more than a year by Moscow. This month, however, the Ukrainian government has suggested the number of abducted children could be more than 16,000.
The Kremlin has rarely tried to hide its attempts to remove children from Ukraine, claiming it is a humanitarian mission to protect orphans or abandoned children from the war.
Maria Lvova-belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, who has been sanctioned by a number of Western governments, has been the public face for the campaign. She made dozens of public appeals for Russian families to come forward to adopt Ukrainian children, as well as boasting that she had adopted a teenage boy from Mariupol.
Mr Khan publicly signalled his intention to pursue a case against Russian abductions during a visit to a vacated children’s home in southern Ukraine.
“Children cannot be treated as the spoils of war,” he said following the trip.
Kyiv, while not a member of the ICC, has accepted the court’s jurisdiction, while Russia is not a member and unlikely to comply with any warrants or rulings.