Russian President Putin is about to face war crime charges as Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC announced that they are launching an investigation. He referenced on the situation in Ukraine: “I have decided to proceed with opening an investigation.”
Kahn wrote in his statement:
I have reviewed the Office’s conclusions arising from the preliminary examination of the Situation in Ukraine, and have confirmed that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with opening an investigation. In particular, I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine in relation to the events already assessed during the preliminary examination by the Office. Given the expansion of the conflict in recent days, it is my intention that this investigation will also encompass any new alleged crimes falling within the jurisdiction of my Office that are committed by any party to the conflict on any part of the territory of Ukraine.
I have already tasked my team to explore all evidence preservation opportunities. The next step is to proceed with the process of seeking and obtaining authorisation from the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court to open an investigation. An alternative route set out in the Statute that could further expedite matters would be for an ICC State Party to refer the situation to my Office, which would allow us to actively and immediately proceed with the Office’s independent and objective investigations.
The ICC is the only permanent judicial body with jurisdiction over prosecuting people for international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
There is no serious doubt that Russia has broken international law in Ukraine. The ICC came into force in 2002 to prosecute four main crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. There is prima facie evidence that Russia has committed at least three of those. Under the ICC statutes, war crimes include wilful killing, wilfully causing great suffering and the destruction and appropriation of property.