Why international tribunal is needed for Putin

During his speech in the German Bundestag, the President of the Republic of Latvia, Egils Levits, called for the creation of a special tribunal for the Russian Federation's crimes in Ukraine. The leader of Latvia emphasized that there is still no tribunal which has jurisdiction covering Russian war crimes. It is necessary to make appropriate adjustments to international law so that it would be possible to create such a tribunal.

Discussions about the need for a tribunal, the jurisdiction of which will include the investigation of Russian war crimes on Ukrainian territory, are now active among politicians, lawyers, and human rights defenders of the civilized world. Everyone is absolutely aware that the Russian army's crimes in Ukraine cannot go unpunished. As well as the crimes of the Russian political leadership led by Vladimir Putin.

However, there really is no international tribunal that would deal with this important topic. And now we need to make efforts to create it. Of course, we understand that in the near future no one will extradite Russian war criminals to any international tribunal. However, this is quite often a matter of time and changes in the international situation.

“When the international tribunal for crimes in the former Yugoslavia was created, the leaders of the dictatorial regime in Belgrade also treated the jurisdiction of this tribunal with obvious contempt”

When the international tribunal for crimes in the former Yugoslavia was created, the leaders of the dictatorial regime in Belgrade also treated the jurisdiction of this tribunal with obvious contempt. However, the political situation there was rapidly changing. The dictatorial regime led by Slobodan Milošević lost power as a result of fair elections and a popular uprising against the criminal dictatorship. And after that, the new, democratic government in Serbia, which came to the opportunity to change the country, extradited Slobodan Milošević and other war criminals to The Hague for investigation and trial.

Slobodan Milošević, unfortunately, did not receive a lenient sentence for the crimes he committed in the highest positions in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia. However, other war criminals who, unlike Milošević, did not die in cells awaiting their sentence, are now serving it. Among them are well-known friends of the Russian Federation, real war criminals Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, known for their participation in the genocide of people on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

“Russian propaganda treated these crimes and this genocide with respect and compassion. It treated the international tribunal with contempt. However, it was unable to finally help the bandits avoid the sentence”

Russian propaganda treated these crimes and this genocide with respect and compassion. It treated the international tribunal with contempt.  However, it was unable to finally help the bandits avoid the sentence. Although from the respect that Russian chauvinists showed to Karadžić, Mladić, and Milošević, which they showed to war criminals, it was necessary to conclude even then that the Russian Federation was ready for any of the most terrible crimes during military campaigns, which Russian chauvinists dreamed of almost from the first days after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In fact, it is important to understand not only when the international tribunal for Russia's crimes in Ukraine will be established, but also when Russia's war against Ukraine may end.  We are now in the so-called fog of war. I do not think that there are people who imagine the terms of its end, how it will end, and what the circumstances of the development of the international situation will be. However, one thing is clear - now they are trying to decide what the parameters of the end of the war should be.

And we have quite contradictory signals.  American media, on the one hand, report that the administration of US President Joseph Biden was skeptical of the statement of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army, General Michael Milley. He said that after the liberation of Kherson by the Ukrainian army, there is a real window for negotiations with the Russian Federation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US President's Assistant for National Security Jake Sullivan believe that currently there are no conditions for negotiations with the Russian Federation in Ukraine, and that Ukraine itself should decide when to hold such negotiations.

“If Russia keeps some of the territories it occupied in Ukraine, be it Crimea, or part of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, it will mean that it managed to defeat international law at the cost of incredible military and political efforts and prove that the main thing in relations between independent states there is the right of force. And therefore the 21st century will turn into an era of wars”

On the other hand, there is information that appeared on the pages of The Wall Street Journal that, during his stay in the Ukrainian capital, Jake Sullivan advised President Zelenskyy and the closest entourage of the Ukrainian leader to think about more realistic terms for negotiations with Russia. And, as the journalists emphasize, he meant the situation with the status of occupied and annexed Crimea since 2014.

It is obvious that such reports do not at all contribute to the understanding of how the West would like to end Russia's war against Ukraine. If Russia keeps some of the territories it occupied in Ukraine, be it Crimea, or part of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, it will mean that it managed to defeat international law at the cost of incredible military and political efforts and prove that the main thing in relations between independent states there is the right of force. And therefore the 21st century will turn into an era of wars. 

About the author: Vitaly Portnikov, writer, journalist.

The editorial team does not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.