Vladimir Putin (AFP)
Russia and Ukraine
Russia is not among the 123 signatories to the Hague Charter
After it issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, how can the International Criminal Court implement its decision against him, especially since it has no army or military force?
The International Criminal Court is specialized in holding those responsible for war crimes accountable, and it relies on the national authorities to hand over the accused. Therefore, the refusal of countries’ cooperation is problematic in implementing the court’s decisions.
And after he became wanted by international justice on the grounds that he had committed war crimes and by order of the International Criminal Court? Who will arrest Putin and how?
The International Court of Justice in The Hague
Before answering this question, let us mention that the court with universal jurisdiction is competent to hold accountable those responsible for war crimes and genocide when national authorities cannot do so, in the 123 countries that signed the treaty establishing it, but Russia is not one of them.
The court has no police or military forces and relies on the civil authorities to arrest and extradite wanted persons.
That is why the court’s decisions face a problem, which is the refusal of states to extradite the accused. A problem I faced in handing over former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Several signatories to the court’s charter refused to cooperate in his arrest, including Chad and Kenya.
The Russian president is considered the second president against whom an arrest warrant has been issued while he is on top of his work, after Al-Bashir. The rest of the notes were confined to military leaders and officials who committed war crimes.
In the Russian case, Putin can be arrested in limited cases, such as when he leaves his country to a country that may want to bring him to trial or to hand him over to his country’s authorities.
And in a country where Putin enjoys absolute power, it is unlikely that the Kremlin would seek to bring him to an international court.
The memorandum is meaningless, says the Kremlin, while it is seen by the West as a signal from the international community that what is happening in Ukraine is illegal. Between this and that no one can arrest Putin.
It is noteworthy that the official spokesman for the International Criminal Court, Fadi Al-Abdullah, announced that the decision to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a condemnation, but rather an invitation to appear and investigate.
He said in statements to Al-Arabiya / Al-Hadath from The Hague, on Friday evening, that the implementation of Putin’s arrest depends on international cooperation, adding that the Russian president is suspected of war crimes.
While he made it clear that countries that are not members of the court are not bound by its decisions, pointing out that Putin’s arrest warrant will be circulated to member states.
And he added, “We have the right to ask any member state to arrest Putin on its soil.”
In addition, he confirmed that the court investigates Ukraine’s cases impartially.
For his part, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, welcomed the International Criminal Court’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin on Friday, saying that “the wheel of justice has begun to turn.”
While the European Union’s foreign policy official confirmed that the International Criminal Court’s issuance of an arrest warrant against the Russian president in connection with the war in Ukraine is “the beginning of accountability.”
“We appreciate and support the work of the International Criminal Court,” Josep Borrell added on his Twitter account.
The Rome Statute is the founding text of the International Criminal Court, which has its headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.
International Criminal Court (AP)
