Natalia Chi
The International Criminal Court announced on Friday that it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. war crimes due to suspicion of involvement in Kidnapping of children from Ukraine.
“President Putin has been held responsible for the war crimes of the illegal deportation of the population (children) and the illegal transfer of the population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” the court said in a statement. there is,” 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.
The ICC said 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.” found that there is prejudice,” he said. Ukrainian children. ”
Over the past year, the prosecutor’s office, like the Ukrainian Public Prosecutor’s Office, has collected evidence from numerous national and personal sources. Pamela Falk of CBS News report Earlier this week, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was preparing to seek arrest warrants for individuals involved in alleged kidnappings of Ukrainian children and targeting of civilian infrastructure.
Earlier this month, Khan made his fourth visit to Ukraine. “I leave Ukraine with the feeling that the momentum for justice is accelerating,” he said. said in a statement.
“The decision of the International Criminal Court has no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view. Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in response to the arrest warrant. We are not obligated to do so. ”
Lvova-Belova, accused of spearheading a program to transport children, defended her actions. “What I want to say is, first of all, that the international community should do a great job of helping the children of our country, not leaving them in war zones, getting them out and creating good conditions. It’s great that they appreciate it. Surround them with loving and caring people for their sake,” she said.
indictment of Putin the president of russia international fugitivereported by David Martin of CBS News.
Judge Richard Goldstone, the chief prosecutor of war crimes committed in Bosnia in the 1990s, said, “It is easy for a head of state to fear being arrested when he sets foot in a European or North American country. isn’t it.
Ambassador Beth Van Schark, the State Department official in charge of gathering evidence that could help prove Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine, told Martin: The risk of him being arrested and brought to court is too great.”
The same goes for other Russians accused of war crimes.
“They will enjoy a certain degree of immunity while they are in Russia,” Van Schark said. Identities are identified and law enforcement begins. It has never been more integrated. ”
Alex Whiting, a Harvard law professor who worked in the ICC prosecutor’s office, said, “Issuing an arrest warrant is the first step in achieving accountability for war crimes. With evidence, identified individuals are responsible, and those charged will forever risk arrest or surrender, especially if they travel to any of the 123 states that are members of the Court. ”
President Biden Called Putin a ‘war criminal’ and called him face the challengebut the United States is not part of it International Criminal Courtnever ratified the treaty that created the institution.
CBS News conducted an alleged investigation torture and war crimes crime in ukraine by Russian forces from the early days of the invasion. August, CBS News Correspondent Chris Livesay spoke with Ukrainian children They were taken to Russian territory against their will, rescued and taken back to Ukraine.
A February report from the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Institute, sponsored by the US State Department, concluded that “all levels of the Russian government are involved” in the transfer of children from Ukraine.
“We have identified at least 43 facilities in this network of camps, facilities that house Ukrainian children, or that have housed Ukrainian children. This network stretches across Russia. said lab director Nathaniel Raymond in a briefing. February 14.
“The main purpose of the camps appears to be political re-education,” he said, although some camp children were later “placed in foster care in Russia or in some form of the adoption system.” was put in,” he added.
– Pamela Falk, David Martin, and Camilla Schick contributed to the report.
