After Ukraine, Vladimir Putin Is Beyond Redemption

The Recount

After Ukraine, Vladimir Putin Is Beyond Redemption

March 25, 2022

After Ukraine, Vladimir Putin Is Beyond Redemption

Continuing from Part 1, John Heilemann talks with international affairs and national security guru Tom Nichols about the debate over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin’s behavior and rhetoric suggest that he is losing touch with reality and becoming unhinged. Nichols argues that Putin has reached a “point of no return” given the mounting civilian casualties in Ukraine, President’s Biden’s recent characterization of Putin as a war criminal, and Russia’s increasing isolation on the world stage. They also discuss Biden’s successful rallying of NATO allies – as the president meets with European leaders in Brussels this week about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – as well as the difficult decisions facing Biden and the NATO alliance as Zelenskyy warns that we may already have entered World War III. Tune in to the full episode to hear about Nichols’s proud status as a five-time, undefeated Jeopardy champion, and his well-known – and well-deserved – reputation for having indefensibly and inexplicably bad taste in music.

Related:

Yahoo! News

What is the punishment for a war criminal?

James Morris, Freelance news writer, Yahoo UK – March 25, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with winners of state culture prizes via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on March 25, 2022. - President Putin on March 25 slammed the West for discriminating against Russian culture, saying it was like the ceremonial burning of books by Nazi supporters in the 1930s. (Photo by Mikhail KLIMENTYEV / SPUTNIK / AFP) (Photo by MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
Vladimir Putin, pictured holding a meeting on Friday, has been accused of war crimes. (Getty Images)

The UK government has said “all options are on the table” when it comes to seeking to prosecute Russian president Vladimir Putin’s regime for war crimes amid the Ukraine crisis.

Preliminary international probes have already begun following Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, which has seen more than 1,000 civilians killed and millions of people displaced from their homes.

But what is a war crime, how are they prosecuted and what is the punishment? Here, Yahoo News UK explains.

What is a war crime?

There is not actually an agreed definition. As the United Nations points out, “there is no one single document in international law that codifies all war crimes”.

But the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where war crimes can be prosecuted (see further information below), follows the definition set out by the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which were ratified by 196 states.

This definition includes acts of:

  • wilful killing
  • torture or inhuman treatment
  • wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury
  • extensive destruction and appropriation of property which is not justified by military necessity
  • compelling a prisoner of war to serve in the forces of a hostile state
  • wilfully depriving a prisoner of war of the rights of fair and regular trial
  • unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement
  • taking of hostages

However, the Rome Statute also includes an extensive list of further specific violations, such as intentionally directing attacks against civilian populations, using child soldiers, forced pregnancy and intentionally directing attacks against hospitals.

How are war crimes prosecuted?

War crimes can be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in the Netherlands. This court is governed by the Rome Statute outlined above.

The ICC, which began operations in 2002, “investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community”. This includes war crimes as well as genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

It is a “court of last resort” and a case will only be heard there when a national court is not in a position to address it.

After gathering evidence and identifying a suspect, ICC prosecutors can request judges to issue arrest warrants. It relies on countries to carry out the arrest and a trial cannot begin until a suspect is detained and transferred to the court.

Twenty-seven defendants have been accused of war crimes by the ICC, with three – Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, Germain Katanga and Thomas Lubanga Dylio – convicted. A further eight are currently in ICC custody awaiting trial or appealing proceedings.

What is the punishment for war crimes?

At the trial, the prosecution “must prove beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused” before three judges.

If found guilty, the judges can issue sentences of up to 30 years’ imprisonment, or a life sentence “under exceptional circumstances”.

An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Netherlands. (Reuters)

Sentences are served in countries that have agreed to enforce ICC prison terms.

Verdicts are subject to appeal by the defence of the accused, as well as by the prosecution.

Has Putin committed war crimes in Ukraine?

Putin hasn’t been formally accused of war crimes by the ICC, though it launched an investigation earlier this month following referrals from 41 countries.

But Putin’s bombardment of major cities including Kyiv and Mariupol, including strikes on hospitals and civilian evacuation routes, have seen leaders around the world accuse Putin of having committed war crimes.

Boris Johnson said on Thursday: “It is right that Russia should now be called before the International Court of Justice and right that President Putin should appear before the International Criminal Court. There is no question that what they are doing is war crimes.”

Boris Johnson gives a press conference during a Nato summit in Brussels, Belgium. He says the UK is bolstering support for Nato and the UK will ramp up legal aid for Ukraine.

Joe Biden has also labelled Putin a war criminal, and the US formally accused Russia of war crimes on Wednesday.

In his most recent statement on the probe on 10 March, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said: “I note, in particular, that if attacks are intentionally directed against the civilian population: that is a crime. If attacks are intentionally directed against civilian objects: that is a crime. I strongly urge parties to the conflict to avoid the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas.

“There is no legal justification, there is no excuse, for attacks which are indiscriminate, or which are disproportionate in their effects on the civilian population.”

Could Putin be prosecuted for alleged war crimes in Ukraine?

David Scheffer, who was the first US ambassador-at-large for war crimes under the Clinton administration, told Foreign Policy on Thursday it is “inevitable” Putin will be indicted at the ICC. “He is at the very top of the command chain in Russia.

“He has obviously failed as top commander to stop those crimes from being committed on a daily basis. He has the power to do it.”

However, as outlined above, hearings cannot begin until a suspect is arrested and transferred to the ICC.

And while the court could well accuse Putin of war crimes, asking Russia to arrest its all-powerful dictator is another matter altogether.

Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine – A War Expert’s Analysis

John Heilemann talks with international affairs and national security guru Tom Nichols, contributing writer at The Atlantic, longtime senior faculty member at the U.S. Naval War College, and author of eight books on foreign policy and politics, including, most recently, Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy. Heilemann and Nichols assess Vladimir Putin’s calculations in the face of the Russian military’s inability to win a swift and decisive victory, how President Zelenskyy has wielded a masterful media strategy to galvanize support around the world and dominate the information battlefield; and the difficult decisions facing Joe Biden and the NATO alliance as Zelenskyy warns that we may already have entered World War III. Nichols also discusses his proud status as a five-time, undefeated Jeopardy champion, and his well-known – and well-deserved – reputation for having inexplicably bad taste in music.

Related:

The Recount

Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine – A War Expert’s Analysis

March 24, 2022

John Heilemann talks with international affairs and national security guru Tom Nichols, contributing writer at The Atlantic, longtime senior faculty member at the U.S. Naval War College, and author of eight books on foreign policy and politics, including, most recently, Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy. Heilemann and Nichols assess the state of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s calculations in the face of the Russian military’s inability to win a swift and decisive victory, and the emerging consensus in the West that war has reached what could prove to be a protracted and bloody stalemate; how President Zelenskyy has wielded a masterful media strategy to galvanize support around the world and dominate the information battlefield; and the difficult decisions facing Joe Biden and the NATO alliance as Zelenskyy warns that we may already have entered World War III. Nichols also discusses his proud status as a five-time, undefeated Jeopardy champion, and his well-known – and well-deserved – reputation for having indefensibly and inexplicably bad taste in music.

Author: John Hanno

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Bogan High School. Worked in Alaska after the earthquake. Joined U.S. Army at 17. Sergeant, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 84th Artillery, 7th Army. Member of 12 different unions, including 4 different locals of the I.B.E.W. Worked for fortune 50, 100 and 200 companies as an industrial electrician, electrical/electronic technician.