This is something like a moment of truth for the International Criminal Court. After more than a year of preparation, including the meticulous work of countless public and private NGOs gathering evidence, plus more than likely contributions from several state security organs, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.
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he action is extraordinary. It is NOT extraordinary int he sense that the ICC has issued such a warrant against a sitting head of state (plus one). It is extraordinary in that it has reached a head of state that considers himself to be the peer of the leaders of the greatest political powers on the globe today. The question that is to be decided is whether these warrants are worth the paper (or bandwidth) they are written on. clearly, the Russian head of state (plus one) is unlikely to be arrested (like the Sudanese President a generation ago) in any friendly state (includng states that advertise themselves as liberalish democratic. And that is underscored by the fraternal embrace to which Mr. Putin will be subject by his protector.
But what might the arrest warrant suggest?
(1) As a matter of discursive semiotics, it deepens the narratives of illegitimacy and illegality, as well as the liberal democratic notion of personal responsibility for crimes that leaders induce the states under their charge to commit.
(2) It will deepen the dependency of the Russian Federation, as currently governed, to its Chinese partners. That os something that the Russian elites may at some pointt find difficult to endure--especially where it translates into not merely a subordinate position in global affairs, but where Chinese territorial and resource control ambitions reveal tyhe extent to which they may be directed against what the Russians thought was theirs.
(3) It will deepen the alignment of Ukraine WITHIN Europe; and the sense of Ukrainian nationality, in a contemporary form. From the perspective of the borders of that region--Europeanization is the most effective way of making irrelevant the various territorial claims of neighboring states since all of them will be part of the same political super-structure.
(4) But for the US and China it will also present a double edged sword. How does one advance or resist this effort without drawing oneself within its jurisdiction. The answer, of course, lies in the consensus that Russia, like other states subject to ICC jurisdiction, is by definition a non-apex state; and that only those states that are apex may assert (not without contestation) the right to sit apart from the ICC architecture and its jurisdictional barriers.
Lots more to come.
The Press Release follows.
Today, 17 March 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.
Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born on 7 October 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).
Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, born on 25 October 1984, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms Lvova-Belova bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute).
Pre-Trial Chamber II considered, based on the Prosecution’s applications of 22 February 2023, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children.
The Chamber considered that the warrants are secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation. Nevertheless, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the Chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorise the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Chamber.
The abovementioned warrants of arrests were issued pursuant to the applications submitted by the Prosecution on 22 February 2023.
For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: fadi.el-abdallah@icc-cpi.int
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