Calls For Putin To Face War Crimes Trial Intensify As Invasion Enters Second Year

Topline

It is only a matter of time before Vladimir Putin is put on trial for war crimes, U.S. envoy Beth Van Schaack said in an interview with Sky News released Friday, joining growing calls to hold Russia’s top political echelon accountable for atrocities in Ukraine as the war enters its second year.

Calls are growing for Putin to face justice for invading Ukraine.

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Key Facts

A global team of investigators examining allegations of Russian atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine are building a case that goes all the way to President Vladimir Putin himself, Van Schaack said.

Van Schaack said experts are working to connect the abundance of “very clear digital evidence” of crimes on the ground with the people further up the chain of command who ordered them or otherwise allowed them to be committed with impunity.

While it may appear unlikely Putin will ever face a court for his leading role in Russia’s invasion, Van Schaack pointed to Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic and Chad’s Hissene Habre as proof former dictators can and do answer for their crimes.

Van Schaack said she didn’t think “any of those men thought they would ever see the inside of a courtroom,” adding that “every single one of them did.”

This will not happen quickly with Putin and “we need to be playing a long game,” Van Schaack said.

News Peg

Ukraine, international humanitarian organizations and multiple countries have now openly accused Russian troops of committing war crimes in Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago and its forces have committed multiple atrocities in that time. Russian forces have targeted civilians and residential areas through sexual violence, carrying out extrajudicial executions, torturing civilians and prisoners of war and deploying restricted weapons. Leaders in Moscow have been accused of overseeing, or even ordering, such acts, as well as broader crimes of aggression for instigating war. Russia has steadfastly denied any allegations of war crimes and claims the invasion is an act of self defense, not an act of aggression. Multiple teams, including in Ukraine, the International Criminal Court and across Europe, are investigating with a possible view to prosecution.

What To Watch For

Calls for Russia’s elite to answer for the atrocities are growing, particularly as Putin doubles down on the invasion. On Thursday, France’s foreign minister said it was a “possibility” Putin may eventually be prosecuted for his role in the war. The U.S. has become more vocal in its determination of Russian war crimes in the lead up to the war’s anniversary and Vice President Kamala Harris said there is evidence of “widespread and systemic” attacks against civilians and called for perpetrators and their superiors to be “held to account.” U.S. support would be key to securing future trials for Russian leadership and not necessarily guaranteed given past calls to hold American leadership to account for its decision to invade Iraq in 2003, though Van Schaack dismissed this as a “false equivalence.” Writing in the Guardian, Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said we “owe it to the people of Ukraine” to bring Putin to justice and urged the U.S. to back a special tribunal.

Key Background

War crimes are broadly defined under international law and cover a set of actions that are collectively agreed to be unacceptable to pursue in the conduct of war. They include wilfully killing or causing suffering, destroying or seizing property beyond military need and deliberately targeting civilian populations and infrastructure, including hospitals. Prosecution can be tricky and could be undertaken through Ukraine’s domestic legal system—with international support—or via the International Criminal Court in the Hague. War crimes are one of four offenses—alongside genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression—the International Criminal Court was established to prosecute in 2002, and Russia also faces several allegations of these other offenses, notably aggression. The court’s investigations are slow given the nature of the work involved and it could have trouble trying Russian leadership if it decided to do so. The court does not try people in absentia and Russia is not a signatory, meaning the country would either have to hand those charged over to the court for trial or they would need to be captured when traveling in a country that does recognize the court’s authority.

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