Mongolia “failed to cooperate” in Putin’s arrest – ICC pre-trial chamber

This is reported by Ukrinform with reference to an ICC press release.

“Today, 24 October 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) found that, by failing to arrest Mr Putin while he was on its territory and surrender him to the Court, Mongolia has failed to comply with the Court’s request to cooperate in this regard contrary to the provisions of the Rome Statute (“Statute”), thereby preventing the Court from exercising its functions and powers within the meaning of article 87(7) of the Statute. In view of the seriousness of Mongolia’s failure to cooperate with the Court, the Chamber deemed it necessary to refer the matter to the Assembly of States Parties,” the release reads.

The Chamber says that States Parties and those that recognize the Court’s jurisdiction are obliged to arrest and extradite persons subject to an ICC warrant, regardless of official position or nationality. According to Article 86 of the Rome Statute, all States Parties shall cooperate fully with the Court in order to uphold its mandate.

The Chamber also recalled that the Court performs functions that correspond to the general interests of the international community by exercising jurisdiction over the most serious international crimes, which include grave breaches of fundamental norms of international law.

It is worth noting that Mongolia recognizes the jurisdiction of the ICC, which issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest in March 2023. Therefore, as a State Party to the Rome Statute, it was obliged to arrest Putin upon his arrival on a visit to the country.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, in March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin on charges of war crimes, including the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine and the illegal removal of Ukrainians to Russia. However, on September 3, the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, met with his Mongolian counterpart in Ulan-Bator.

This was Putin’s first visit to a country that ratified the Rome Statute and was obliged to arrest the Russian leader on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague in connection with Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Mongolia explained their failure to act by admitting a situation of energy dependence, which made it difficult to arrest the Russian dictator on an ICC warrant.