The International Criminal Court is obliged to adhere to the Rome Statute and will not withdraw the warrants against Vladimir Putin and five other Russian citizens, even if an amnesty is approved during peace negotiations on Ukraine under the auspices of the US, DW reports.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and five other Russian citizens, accused of war crimes in Ukraine, will remain in effect even if a general amnesty is approved during peace negotiations under Washington's auspices. This was announced on Friday, December 5, by Deputy Prosecutors Najat Shamim Khan from Fiji and Mam Ndai Niang from Senegal. Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan temporarily left his post in May amid investigations into allegations against him.
To suspend the warrants issued by the court, a resolution from the UN Security Council would be required, the deputy prosecutors explained.
"If a peace agreement is reached, resulting in the Security Council asking us to postpone the investigation, then that will be a matter of the political process within the Security Council. But as far as we are concerned, ultimately this will not impede the pursuit of justice," quoted Najat Shamim Khan by Reuters.
Mam Ndai Niang, in turn, clarified that - unless considering possible modalities within the UN Security Council - the ICC is obliged to adhere to the statute - the Rome Statute, "which does not give weight to some of these political arrangements" on other tracks.
Amnesty according to Trump's plan
As outlined in the 28-point US peace plan, "all parties involved in the conflict" should receive "full amnesty for actions during the war."
Ukrainian Ambassador to the Netherlands Andriy Kostin, who previously held the position of Ukrainian Attorney General, rejected the idea of full amnesty. "Given the mass atrocities committed over these years, it is impossible to grant impunity to all those guilty, all those who committed these crimes and ordered their commission," Kostin told Reuters.
Arrest warrants of the International Criminal Court
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and five other individuals from his circle for their alleged involvement in war crimes following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of exporting Ukrainian children from occupied regions. According to them, more than 19,500 children have been deported from Ukraine since 2022, with 1,605 successfully returned. The export of children from occupied territories to Russia became the basis for the warrants against Putin and Russia's children's rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova.
Russian authorities claimed that they did not abduct children but took them for their safety. Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and has repeatedly rejected accusations of other possible war crimes.
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