Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court on March 17, 2023, issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine – Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.
ICC in a press release said Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children and the unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian-occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022, said the ICC.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute),” noted ICC.
Further, the statement said Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children and that of unlawful transfer of population children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
War crimes
The Pre-Trial Chamber II considered, based on the Prosecution’s applications of 22 February 2023, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children.
The Chamber also considered that the warrants are secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation.
“Nevertheless, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the Chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorise the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Chamber,” said the ICC in the statement.
The warrants of arrest were issued pursuant to the applications submitted by the Prosecution on 22 February 2023.
