Natalia Chi
The International Criminal Court announced on Friday that it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges for his involvement in the kidnapping of children from Ukraine.
In a statement, the court said that Putin was “responsible for the war crimes of the illegal deportation of the population (children) and the illegal movement of the population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. It is being done,” he said.
Maria Alexeyevna Lvova Belova, a child rights commissioner at the President’s Office of the Russian Federation, was also arrested on similar charges and issued a warrant on Friday.
Court President Piotr Hoffmanski said in a video statement that ICC judges had issued the warrants, but that it was up to the international community to enforce them. no police force.
“The ICC is acting as a court of law. The judge has issued an arrest warrant. Enforcement depends on international cooperation.”
The possibility of a Russian trial at the ICC is still far away. Moscow recognizes the jurisdiction of the courts, a position reaffirmed this week by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who will not extradite its citizens.
Ukraine, also not a member of the Court, recognizes the ICC’s jurisdiction over its territory, which ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has visited four times since launching an investigation a year ago.
The ICC found that its trial court had “reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect was responsible for the war crime of illegal population deportation and illegal migration of populations from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.” I discovered that there is,” he said. of Ukrainian children. ”
War crimes are acts that violate international humanitarian rules of war during armed conflict and often refer to violence against civilians.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility” for the child abduction, the court said in a statement, adding that “directly, jointly with and/or through others. (and) committed that act for his failure to exercise control.” Appropriately applied to civilian and military personnel who committed the act. ”
On Thursday, a UN-backed investigation cited Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians, including systematic torture and killings in occupied territories, among other issues that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. .
The sweeping investigation found displaced Ukrainian children prevented from reuniting with their families, a “filtration” system aimed at screening Ukrainians for detention, and torture and inhumane detention conditions. Crimes committed against Ukrainians on Russian territory were also found, including.
But on Friday, the ICC put Putin’s face on a child abduction allegation.
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Casert reported from Brussels.
