Gordon Brown, the former British prime minister and current UN envoy for global education, has written that there is a plan to indict Russian President Vladimir Putin at the International Criminal Court.
In an article in The Independent, he stated that at the request of 39 countries, as well as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, Putin is under investigation for war crimes against humanity, for the targeting of innocent civilians by rape, torture and mutilation, the bombing of hospitals, schools and public buildings and the breach of humanitarian corridors Specific and agreed-upon ceasefires, and on recent reports of the use of prohibited chemical weapons.
Brown referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request – on Monday – to international partners to support the establishment of a special international military court to investigate war crimes committed by the Russians on Ukrainian soil.
Today, he said, they will publish the text of a criminal indictment against President Putin for starting the Russian aggressive war. The indictment clarifies the nature and gravity of the case that war crimes prosecutors can bring before an international court.
He pointed out that although there is a loophole in the law that means that the International Criminal Court cannot consider a case of aggression against Russia – since Ukraine and Russia are not signatories to the court’s statute – a special court can be formed at the request of Ukraine and the supporting countries.
With the encouragement of the Ukrainian government, 1.7 million people who signed his petition, and 50 former presidents, prime ministers, and international lawyers from every continent, that’s now unanimously requested.
And for those who say that such a tribunal can never happen and that it is a desperate quest for justice, let us remind people that not only did Nuremberg try Hitler’s followers, but war crimes were prosecuted in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Liberia as well, and former Liberian leader Charles Taylor is now in a British prison After being sentenced to 50 years in prison for war crimes.
Although the indictment published was against President Putin, the definition of the crime of aggression could also apply to senior Russian officials who, according to the Rome Statute, were “in a position to effectively exercise control or direct the political or military action of the state.”
Brown added that although gathering such evidence to directly link Putin’s orders to this continuing evil would take months of painstaking research and forensic medicine, the crime of aggression that began some time ago planning and preparing for the invasion can be proven through easily accessible documents that are now fully available and can be That, according to the initiative’s author, Professor Philip Sands, would lead to indictments against Putin within weeks.
Brown stated that aggression is Putin’s original crime as laid out in the model indictment called “Prosecutor v. President Vladimir Putin,” which was prepared by Ryan Goodman, professor of law at New York University, and Rebecca Hamilton, associate professor of law at American University in Washington.
He added that this is in line with the declaration made by the Allied countries in London in 1942 when they pledged to bring Hitler and his inner circle to trial for their aggression, which was also described as “crimes against peace”, which paved the way for the Nuremberg trials in 1946.
Brown added that although the indictment published was against President Putin, the definition of the crime of aggression could also apply to senior Russian officials who, according to the Rome Statute, were “in a position to effectively exercise control, direct political action or military state.”
This accusation can also be brought against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and other high-ranking officials, for having placed his country’s territory at Russia’s disposal for “perpetrating an act of aggression against a third country.”
Perhaps most important, as Brown argued in the conclusion of his article, is that early agreement on this indictment will send a message to the people of Ukraine that the world will not allow war crimes to go unpunished and, as demonstrated at Nuremberg, will make the decisions necessary to achieve retribution.
