In the field of international law, there are rules to be followed in times of war. However, President Putin currently seems to be ignoring these rules. However, once the evidence demonstrates that international rules have been violated on the ground, the criminal responsibility of a leader can be engaged.
However, you have to be able to prove the criminal intent, which is not an easy thing to do. Was it an accident or a clear will of the leader? Surprisingly, there is an even bigger problem: Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court; how can she be sanctioned if she does not respect the rules?
“The laws of war” is the term for the laws that countries agree on when they are at war. When there are violations of the “laws of war”, war crimes can be committed. War crimes are defined, for the signatory countries, by international agreements.
The crux of the problem
The Rome Statute, an international treaty that created the International Criminal Court (ICC), defines the jurisdiction of this Court in cases of serious violations of international humanitarian law. However, Russia is not a signatory to this agreement…
The Geneva Conventions provide rules to be adopted by the signatory countries in the event of armed conflicts, such as the protection of civilians, members of humanitarian aid, the wounded or prisoners of war. These conventions were adopted to restore some humanity to war, which is basically atrocious. Almost all countries are signatories to the Geneva Conventions. Not to be seems very bad internationally. Russia is a signatory.
That’s all well and good, but there’s a real problem. Putin and Russia must respect the rules of war established by the Geneva Conventions, since they are signatories to them, but, at the same time, they do not recognize the international judicial body competent in this matter, the International Criminal Court, alone body that might sanction leader Putin personally…
Outdated mechanics
Countries are said to be “sovereign”; they cannot therefore be forced to sign an international agreement. There is no international police that can force a country to do anything except economic sanctions or threats of military intervention from other countries.
This is, for me, an outdated and sterile legal mechanism that really does not help the cause. How to compel a leader to respect humanitarian rules, when he does not even risk having to answer for his actions?
Is Putin a war criminal? We may never know, because of the complexity of this concept and the difficulty of applying it in the circumstances.
The solution may lie in prevention. The economic sanctions that we are witnessing at the moment should probably occur when a country is not a signatory to a convention as important as the Rome Statute, which establishes the International Criminal Court, instead of being decreed when the war is declared.
