In the West, there is a problem of “institutional egoism” in the matter of creating a special tribunal for the leadership of the Russian Federation for the war in Ukraine.
There is a problem in the world in the discussion regarding the tribunal for those involved in war crimes in Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba spoke about the difficulties of discussing punishment for the leadership of the Russian Federation in an interview Ukrinform.
“I won’t hide it, they are scared here for various reasons. And for political ones, because since 1945 there have been only two such cases – Nuremberg and an attempted trial of Milosevic, when a European leader was tried for crimes during the war. And the practice of trying the leader of another state , let’s say, very shaky,” the minister explained.
Another difficulty he cited is that some see it as an inappropriate alternative to the International Criminal Court.
“It is written in his statute that one of the crimes for which he can judge is aggression. But in practice, purely for legal reasons, he cannot apply this article specifically to the case of Ukraine and Russia.
Our partners say: “There is no need to create The Tribunal, because we have the ICC, you cannot create an alternative to it.” And we say: “Wait, what is more important – the interests of the ICC, which does not want any temporary alternatives to itself, or justice, for which the ICC exists?”. Here they have a stupor “because they are both for justice and for the ICC. In short, there is a problem of “institutional egoism” both in the issue of the International Criminal Court and in the issue of creating a special tribunal,” Kuleba explained.
The minister believes that there are chances to convince the partners to create a tribunal.
As you know, Ukraine plans to create a one-time international tribunal to try the top leadership of the Russian regime, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Office of the President expects the creation of an international tribunal for the Russian Federation before the end of summer.
Earlier it was reported that the International Criminal Court has reasonable suspicions against Russian troops falling under the jurisdiction of the court. The first charges may be filed before the end of 2022 or early 2023.
