Assessing the Possibility of Prosecuting Putin and other leaders for War Crime in Ukraine
- July 2, 2022
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: IJRISS, Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VI, June 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
Assessing the Possibility of Prosecuting Putin and other leaders for War Crime in Ukraine
Dr. Ambrues Monboe Nebo Sr.
Abstract: This article succinctly assessed the possibility of prosecuting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other key figures for alleged potential war crimes or crimes against humanity being committed in Ukraine. Precisely, it reviews existing literature on the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as the methodological approach to exploring the possibility.
As the conceptual framework, this paper assessed the possibility from the background of power dynamics, particularly in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) affecting international politics and puts Russia into context. The paper doubts not the possibility but argues that the chances are very slim due to the concept of power dynamics being exercised by Russia as one of the five permanent members of the UNSC and the political limits to what the International Criminal Court (ICC) can do in any of the crimes it investigates and prosecutes prime suspects bearing greater responsibility.
Keywords: International Criminal Courts, War Crime, Russia, Ukraine, United Nations Security Council, Power dynamics.
I.INTRODUCTION
Since the launch of Putin’s “special military operation” to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine at the expense of the civilian population, the calls to prosecute President Putin and other leaders continue to dominate major international media outlets. For example, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have previously both accused Russia of carrying out war crimes (Casciani, 2022). According to CNN and CNBC, US President Joe Biden has labeled President a “war criminal” (Fossum and Liptak, 2022), (Mangan, 2022). Even the prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague has announced that he will launch an investigation into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Ukraine (The Guardian, 2022). Moreover, in his news conference, on February 28, 2022, the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, signaled his intention to seek to open a formal inquiry (Human Right Watch, 2022).
