That could undermine the work of the ICC, chief prosecutor Karim Khan warned in The Hague on Monday. “We need to avoid fragmentation and instead work on the merger.”
He called on the international community to support and fund the ICC’s investigations. “We must not fail. We need the resources to do our job. We don’t have those funds,” Khan said.
Since Russia does not recognize the ICC, the court can investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. But he cannot take action against Moscow for the crime of aggression.
That is why Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, last week proposed a special tribunal to punish “Russian crimes” in Ukraine. The EU also justified the move by saying heads of state such as Russian President Vladimir Putin would enjoy immunity from prosecution by the ICC.
Khan now contradicted this: the ICC member states could find ways to allow the court to prosecute a third country. The EU has also “misrepresented” the immunity law.
The ICC launched an investigation into alleged war crimes shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, the ICC also stated that it was important for Ukraine to bring the suspect to justice itself if possible. The ICC is the highest international court and has been prosecuting particularly serious crimes such as war crimes since 2002.
(SDA)