There is “ample evidence” Russian president Vladimir Putin will be indicted for war crimes over the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to an expert on international law.
International Bar Association executive director Dr Mark Ellis told Breakfast under international law, directing attacks against civilians or civilian objects are “grave breaches, those are war crimes, and those are the ones that the international community will focus on”.
“If the civilians are being targeted or indiscriminately being targeted, then those are what would be the most serious and the most egregious crimes under international law in regards to the conflict.”
He said there is “ample evidence” of war crimes being committed in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, after Russian troops retreated from the area.
“I can say with certainty, based on even the preliminary evidence that I’ve seen, those crimes are, in fact, being committed," he said. “I have no doubt that the International Criminal Court will also find the evidence to suggest that these crimes are being committed.”
READ MORE: Ukraine accuses Russia of massacre, city strewn with bodies
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday joined leaders around the world in condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine.
"The reports of Ukrainian civilians who had been killed, raped and severely wounded by Russian troops is beyond reprehensible. Russia must answer to the world for what they've done," she said.
"It goes without saying that these atrocities are against international law," the Prime Minister said and added New Zealand would join other nations in referring the situation to the International Criminal Court.
She stopped short of calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, but the evidence pointed towards Russia committing war crimes.
Claims of war crimes are being levelled against Russian as the invasion of Ukraine continues. (Source: 1News)
Ellis, who served as a legal advisor to the Independent International Commission of Kosovo, turned to the example of former president of Serbia Slobodan Milošević, over what may play out in regards to Putin. Milošević was indicted for crimes against humanity for his role in the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s but died in custody in The Hague in 2006 before facing trial.
He said Milošević is “a great example of someone who was kept in power until the political environment changed, and then he was no longer considered to be the most important person, in this case, in the former Yugoslavia, and it was much easier, politically, to move him out".
“We’ve seen this time and time again … It takes time but international law is set up for that ‘if not today then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then sometime in the future’ – that’s what international law is all about.
“International justice, I always say, plays the long game."
Ellis said there are “two main avenues that the international community can follow” in indicting Putin with war crimes: The international criminal court in The Hague, and universal jurisdiction, which would see every state “directing their legal system attention to Mr Putin and others”.
“In the long term, you’re able to see the possibility of bringing these individuals to justice, either in The Hague or by individual states.”
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan QC announced an investigation into the situation in Ukraine in February.
“I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he will eventually find evidence to seek an indictment against Mr Putin, I hope, under command responsibility, and other violators of international law," Ellis said.
SHARE ME