Vladimir Putin is visiting Mongolia on September 3. As a member state of the International Criminal Court, Mongolia has a legal obligation to arrest Putin and hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). He is being charged with war crimes because of the war in Ukraine.
“If Vladimir Putin travels to Mongolia, the country should hand him over to the ICC,” said Altantuya Batdorj, director of Amnesty International Mongolia.
‘President Putin is a fugitive from justice. Any travel to an ICC member state that does not result in his arrest will embolden Putin to continue on his chosen path, and should be seen as a strategic attempt to undermine the ICC’s work to prosecute war crimes suspects.’
Failure to arrest makes one complicit
If Mongolia’s authorities fail to arrest Putin, they will be aiding a man charged by the ICC with the unlawful deportation of children, a war crime. He may also be responsible for a range of other war crimes and crimes against humanity. The conflict in Ukraine has devastated the lives of millions of people and shattered the hopes and aspirations of an entire generation.
Batdori: ‘Harboring someone who is fleeing international law would not only be an obstruction of justice. If Mongolia were to offer Putin a safe haven, even temporarily, it would effectively become complicit in impunity for some very serious crimes under international law.’
Background
Vladimir Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine. He will visit Mongolia on September 3, at the invitation of President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. This will be Putin’s first visit to a member state of the International Criminal Court since the Court issued the arrest warrant for him in March 2023. Putin is accused of the war crimes of unlawful transfer and deportation of a population (children) under Article 8 of the Rome Statute.
In July 2023, the South African High Court ordered Putin’s arrest if he were to attend the BRICS meeting, but he did not attend. Amnesty International South Africa assisted in this lawsuit and underlined the importance of the obligation to arrest him. In March and June 2024, the ICC also issued other arrest warrants off for Russian military personnel. They too are suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Amnesty International has been working to document war crimes and other violations of international law in Ukraine since the Russian military occupation of Crimea in 2014. We monitor developments following Russia’s invasion of the country. An overview of all publications can be found here.
