Much ado about nothing

The International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the country’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights.

- HARSHA KAKAR

Charges include suspected involvement in the ‘unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.’ The ICC statement read, “There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for having committed the acts (child abductions) directly, jointly with others and/or through others (and) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts.”

The ICC has no powers to enforce arrests on warrants that it issues. It banks on member states to detain and hand over those it declares as criminals. The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson responded to the warrant stating, “The decisions of the ICC have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view. Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC and bears no obligations under it.” Former Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, in a tweet, compared the warrant to toilet paper. He tweeted, “No need to explain WHERE this paper should be used.”

The ICC President, Piotr Hofmanski, countered Russian rejections by claiming that the court has authority over crimes committed in territories of states which accept its jurisdiction. Ukraine, though not a member of the statute of the ICC, has granted it jurisdiction over its territory. In 2014 Ukraine sent a letter acceding to ICC’s jurisdiction. President Zelenskyy welcomed the ICC warrant by stating, “This is a historic decision which will lead to historic accountability.”