Europe is preparing a Special Tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
Last week, a landmark event took place at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed European legislators on the creation of a Special Tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The Washington Post reports this.
In his speech, President Zelensky emphasized that no one will escape responsibility for crimes of aggression. He noted that close cooperation between politicians and lawyers is needed to punish all Russian war criminals, in particular Vladimir Putin. This statement was met with prolonged applause from parliamentarians.
International Justice: Filling the Gap on the Crime of Aggression
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, sparking the greatest war in Europe since World War II.
The International Criminal Court can try war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine. It even issued an arrest warrant for Putin for kidnapping children. Individual violations are being considered by the European Court of Human Rights.
However, no court can punish the crime of aggression itself. The Nuremberg Tribunal once called it “the supreme international crime.” It is different from others in that it unites all the evils of war.
It is precisely this legal gap that the Special Tribunal is once again intended to fill. It is intended to be located in The Hague, and its membership will be open to countries outside the Council of Europe. The tribunal will consist of 15 judges, as well as a prosecutor and deputy prosecutors elected by member states.
Tribunal Features: “Crime of Leadership” and Immunity Issues
This court will only try the crime of aggression. This is when one state decides to attack another, violating UN rules. This crime is called a “leadership crime” because it can only be committed by those who have the highest power. In the case of the dictatorship of Russia, this directly concerns Vladimir Putin.
The question of whether Putin has immunity as a sitting head of state could be a contentious issue among the countries that are setting up the tribunal. Some may see it as a bar to bringing charges against him.
However, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has already declared Putin “illegitimate” as president after May 7, 2024. This is because he has violated both Russian and international laws on the term limits of office. The European Parliament has come to the same conclusion. A usurper, that is, someone who has seized power illegally, cannot have the protections afforded to legitimate leaders.
Historical Responsibility and the Future of Russia
Regardless of the resolution of the immunity issue, the creation of a special tribunal is of monumental importance for the future – not only of Ukraine and Europe, but of Russia itself. The main reason for the failure of Russia’s democratic transition in the 1990s to halt the current war was the lack of accountability for the crimes committed by the Soviet regime.
Vladimir Bukovsky, a prominent dissident, proposed in 1991-1992 to hold a public trial of former leaders of the Communist Party and the KGB, like the Nuremberg Tribunal. Russian Constitutional Court Judge Anatoly Kononov also said in 1992 that the previous regime should be held accountable for crimes against people and the world, including genocide.
But no one heard these calls. Russian democratic leaders did not want to “dig into the past.”
Russia is expected to have another chance for political change. This time it cannot be lost. For Russia after Putin to become a real democracy and return to the world, it is essential to hold people accountable for the crimes of his regime.
For example, when the regime of Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia) collapsed in 2000, the West insisted on his transfer to the International Tribunal in The Hague. The new government of Serbia did so in 2001. It had been 8 years since the creation of the tribunal for the trial of Milosevic.
Let us recall that the US Congress demanded that Russia return the kidnapped Ukrainian children. The bipartisan resolution was introduced by Congressmen Gregory Meeks and Michael McCaul.
The US Congress resolution condemns the abduction and forced displacement of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation and calls for their return by the time of any peace agreement.
