War Crimes Watch: Hard path to justice in Bucha atrocities
BRUSSELS » The horrific images and stories tumbling out of Ukrainian towns like Bucha in the wake of the withdrawal of Russian troops bear witness to depravity on a scale recalling the barbarities of Cambodia, the Balkans, World War II.
The question now: What to do with this suffering?
With disclosures by Ukrainian officials that more than 400 civilian corpses had been discovered, a chorus has resounded at the highest levels of Western political power, calling for accountability, prosecution and punishment. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the killings as “genocide” and “war crimes,” and U.S. President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin was “a war criminal” who should be brought to trial.
But the path to holding the Russian president and other top leaders criminally responsible is long and complex, international lawyers caution.
“Certainly, the discovery of bodies which bear signs of executions — such as gunshot wounds to the head — presents strong evidence of war crimes,” said Clint Williamson, who served as U.S. Ambassadorat-Large for War Crimes Issues from 2006 to 2009.
“When victims are found with their hands bound, with blindfolds and bearing signs of torture or sexual assault, an even more compelling case is made. There are no circumstances under which these actions are permitted, whether the victims are civilians or military personnel who had been taken prisoner.”
This story is part of an ongoing investigation from The Associated Press and Frontline that includes the War Crimes Watch Ukraine interactive experience and an upcoming documentary.
There is no reason to believe the Russians will own up to war crimes. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that “not a single civilian has faced any violent action by the Russian military,” and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described the scenes outside Kyiv as a “stage-managed anti-Russian provocation.”
The Associated Press and the PBS series Frontline are tracking evidence of potential war crimes committed during one of the largest conflicts in Europe since the end of World War II. As of Tuesday AP and Frontline journalists have verified 90 incidents that appear to violate international humanitarian law.