Russia was recently suspended from the United Nations human rights body as evidence emerged of war crimes perpetrated by Russian forces in Ukraine. The United Nations Human Rights Council’s decision was based on what it called “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” in Russia’s war of aggression. The resolution to suspend Russia… Read More »
By Jacqueline Thomsen and Mike Scarcella (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden has publicly called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, but legal experts said a prosecution of Putin or other Russian leaders would face high hurdles and could take years, as outlined below: HOW IS A WAR CRIME DEFINED? The International Criminal Court… Read More »
What follows is a model of a criminal indictment against President Vladimir Putin for the crime of initiating and executing a war of aggression against Ukraine. The indictment represents the type of document international war crimes prosecutors or national prosecutors could file before an international or national court. The model indictment proceeds using the definition… Read More »
This report is part of ongoing coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. Visit our dedicated page for more on this topic. Germany and Spain have opened investigations into suspected Russian war crimes in Ukraine. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said that Moscow committed a war crime by attacking a nuclear power plant in Ukraine—“Putin’s shelling of Europe’s largest… Read More »
International proceedings have already been initiated against Russia by Ukraine in the International Court of Justice. Other proceedings in international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court, have also been commenced as the prosecutor has opened an investigation. This post proposes that another forum, and set of international legal claims, should also be pursued: the historical… Read More »
ON THE MORNING of February 28th, Russian Grad missiles rained death on the centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said the missiles were deliberately targeted at civilians and described the attack as a war crime. The same day, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, said he was… Read More »