WARRANT OUT FOR PUTIN’S ARREST

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant for the arrest of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

There are 123 states party to the ICC’s Rome Statute. The Statute was adopted in 1998 and came into force in 2002. If the ICC issues a warrant for someone’s arrest in accordance with a Statute and that person enters a participating state, then that state has to arrest the person in question.

This year’s G20 summit will take place in Delhi, India. This means Putin will be able to attend without being arrested. But, other countries have put pressure on India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrest Putin anyway.

Shortly after the ICC made the announcement, US president Joe Biden indicated that Putin is not welcome in his country. He told CNN that “should Putin be tried for war crimes, he’s clearly committed war crimes”.

According to the ICC, war crimes include torture, mutilation, corporal punishment, hostage taking and acts of terrorism. This category also covers violations of human dignity such as rape and forced prostitution, looting and execution without trial. War crimes, unlike crimes against humanity, are always committed in times of war.

The Kremlin has dismissed the ICC’s decision.

Image credit: CNN