In his address, the President of Ukraine called the decision on the warrants for the arrest of the President of Russia, which was issued by the International Criminal Court, historic.
On March 17, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in connection with the situation in Ukraine.
A warrant was also issued for the arrest of Maria Oleksiivna Lvova-Belova, who is the representative of the President of the Russian Federation on children’s rights. About this reported press service of the ISS.
The ombudsman and the president of the Russian Federation are suspected of committing a war crime. It is about the facts of the illegal deportation and transfer of children from the occupied regions of Ukraine to Russia, which took place at least since February 24, 2022.
“Each of the suspects is responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of the population and illegal transfer of the population from the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, which caused harm to Ukrainian children,” the message reads.
This means that they can be arrested on the territory of countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.
The fact that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin Volodymyr Zelenskyi called a historic decision.
“Historical decision, from which historical responsibility will begin. The head of the terrorist state and another Russian official have officially become suspects in a war crime. The deportation of Ukrainian children is the illegal transfer of thousands of our children to Russian territory,” he said in an address to Ukrainians on the evening of March 17.
As you know, in October 2022, Maria Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, informed Putin about the “adoption” of a child kidnapped from Mariupol. At the same time, she said that almost two thousand orphans from social institutions were taken to the Russian Federation. According to her, as of October, 350 children have already been “placed” in families in 16 regions of the Russian Federation.
Deportation of people by the occupying power from the territories where they lived is prohibited by international law. Children are under the special protection of the Geneva Convention.
Darya Gerasimchuk, authorized adviser to the president on children’s rights stated
“Russia has a clearly planned policy regarding Ukrainian children – the actions are not chaotic.”
It is about five common scenarios of child removal. According to the Ministry of Reintegration, the occupying country kidnapped at least 16,221 children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
“The New York Times” publication with reference to its own sources reported On March 16, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is preparing to open two cases on Russian war crimes in Ukraine: in connection with the abduction of Ukrainian children and deliberate attacks by Russia against the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine.
As writes in the publication “UP” Gunduz Mammadov, expert of national and international criminal law, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine in 2019-2021:
“This decision is really important. And given the scale and complexity of international crimes, the result is really fast. And this gives grounds for certain optimism. After all, the investigation was opened on March 3, 2022. And in fact, we already have two warrants in a year. But also to higher officials.”
Mammadov notes that it is currently difficult to detain Putin physically, and the International Criminal Court examines cases exclusively in person.
“He changed his legal status and turned into a suspected and ultimately isolated dictator,” the lawyer emphasizes.
All member states of the International Criminal Court are now legally obliged to detain and bring the president of the Russian Federation to court. We are talking about 123 countries. The chief prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, has publicly stated his intentions to investigate this case.
Olga SKOTNIKOVA
