DISINFO: The anti-Russian ICC decisions may become a casus belli
SUMMARY
The judges of the ill-fated ICC continue to justify their unworkable decision to issue an arrest warrant against the Russian president – this decision is dangerous to world peace.
These “arrest” warrants and trials against Russia are a competition of impotence, and potentially, they are dangerous games. The warrants, prosecution and trials against Russia are the entertainment of Russian enemies, which they use out of powerlessness. We must remember that these actions are potentially dangerous games, which at some point may become a casus belli.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin narrative discrediting the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the context of its investigation into war crimes committed during the military invasion of Ukraine.
On 17 March 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for two individuals in the context of war in Ukraine: Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. As a result of the ICC’s decision, 123 member states are obliged to detain and transfer Putin if he sets foot on their territory, significantly limiting his ability to travel abroad.
The ICC has jurisdiction to try individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression if:
- the country where the offence was committed is a party to the Rome Statute or accepted the Court’s jurisdiction on an ad hoc basis with respect to a given situation by lodging a Declaration under article 12(3) of the Statute; -or the perpetrator’s country of origin is a party to the Rome Statute.
On 16 November 2016, Putin signed a decree formally withdrawing Russia from the agreement on the ICC in the Hague. However, the crimes for which the two arrest warrants were issued were committed on Ukrainian territory.
The Court’s jurisdiction is clearly established. The accusations about the ICC or the OTP being puppets in the hands of the collective West are claims made frequently by pro-Kremlin media.
Read also related cases such as: Russia does not recognise the International Criminal Court at The Hague, the kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russia is an absurd hoax, Russia hits only military targets in Ukraine. See more cases concerning the ICC arrest warrant here.