Can such an accusation be brought forward to them?
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued Russian President Vladimir Putin an arrest warrant. The Court suspects Putin of committing war crimes, particularly the forced deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine. Naturally, Moscow does not accept the jurisdiction of that Court. On the other hand, the Court does not recognize the immunity of heads of state if criminal proceedings have been initiated against them. It means that if Putin visits any country accepting the Court’s jurisdiction, that country’s authorities are obliged to arrest him. We are talking about 123 countries, including all European and South American countries. In practice, however, I doubt it would lead to an arrest.
Starting a war, and attacking a neighboring country, in my opinion, is already a crime. It is hard to expect that the parties in that terrible meat grinder will follow the laws of conducting war that the international community developed after the 2nd world war. It is not possible that the civilian population, including children, will not suffer. So, from the legal and moral point of view, the decision of The Hague Court reflects reality.
Another issue is that the political component dominates here. It is another way to put pressure on Russia. Wouldn’t that have the opposite effect? Let international relations specialists answer that question.
Read also
I want to draw attention to another circumstance. Can such an accusation be brought forward only against Putin? What would you say, for example, about Erdogan or Aliyev? It seems to me that their war crimes are no less terrible. There is simply no political motivation to investigate these crimes. On the other hand, maybe our lawyers and diplomats have not made due efforts so far.
However, it can be hoped that the decision of the International Criminal Court and the subsequent events, if not today, then in the future, will play a deterrent role for all those leaders who want to start a new war.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
