What is ICC, which issued arrest warrant against Putin for Ukraine war crimes?
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday issued an arrest against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday issued an arrest against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for the war crimes committed in Ukraine and on suspicion of “unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”, reported AFP. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has termed the warrant as ‘void’.
What is the International Criminal Court (ICC)?
1. The ICC was established in 2002 in order to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.
2. The court has the provisions to prosecute crimes committed by nationals of member states or on the territory of member states by other actors, reported Reuters. The 15 forms of crimes against humanity include offences such as murder, rape, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, enslavement – particularly of women and children, sexual slavery, torture, apartheid, and deportation, the ICC website said.
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3. Currently, the ICC is conducting 17 investigations in Ukraine, African states such as Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Venezuela in Latin America, and Asian nations including Myanmar and the Philippines.
4. So far, the ICC has convicted five people of war crimes and crimes against humanity from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Uganda. Meanwhile, a total of 21 people have been held in the court's detention center.
5. The court began the investigation in Ukraine on March 2, 2022 - focusing on the alleged crimes committed in the country.
(With inputs from Reuters)
