Images of at least 20 corpses strewn on a street in Ukraine’s Bukha district surfaced over the weekend after Russian forces withdrew from the area, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for an end to Russian “war crimes”. The bombing of hospitals and a theater where children sought refuge from Russia, along with the suspected use of cluster munitions and so-called vacuum bombs in densely populated areas, have also been described as war crimes. Following is a very broad look at war crimes and the international justice movement. What is a war crime? The International Criminal Court has specific definitions of war crimes, which you can read in this guide published by the ICC. In particular, targeting civilians, violating the Geneva Conventions, targeting specific groups of people and much more could be potential Russian war crimes. There is a method of collecting evidence from testimonies, satellite images and elsewhere to cover the burden of proof. What is the International Criminal Court? The International Criminal Court, located in The Hague, the Netherlands, and created by a treaty called the Rome Statute, which was first presented to the United Nations, operates independently. Most countries are parties to the treaty, but there are very large and notable exceptions, including Russia and the United States. And, on this issue, Ukraine. Who can be tried by the court? The court judges people, not countries, and focuses on those who have the greatest responsibility: leaders and officials. Although Ukraine is not a member of the court, it has previously accepted its jurisdiction. Therefore, Putin could theoretically be charged by the court with a previous war crimes warrant in Crimea. However, the ICC does not conduct trials in absentia, so it must either be extradited from Russia or arrested outside Russia. This seems unlikely. How does the ICC move? Litigation can proceed in one of two ways: Either a national government or the UN Security Council can refer cases for investigation. Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has a veto power over the Council. It was the demands of 39 national governments, most of them European, that sparked this ongoing investigation. How long does this research take? If justice is generally slow, international justice is hardly moving at all. The ICC investigations take many years. Only a handful of convictions have ever been won. How would an ICC case affect the conflict? “For better or worse, ICC research can affect the diplomatic arena of negotiations,” said Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University and editor-in-chief of Just Security, an online forum. He argued that Putin and other Russians may not want to risk arrest if they travel abroad. The investigation could also weaken Putin at home, he added. “The Russians may realize that this is another reason why Putin can no longer serve their country.”
title: “Cnn Team Witnesses Removal Of Bodies From A Bucha Basement " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-17” author: “Lena Connelly”
Ukrainian officials have told international media that five bodies have been removed from a basement in Bucha, a suburb of Kiev recently recaptured by Ukrainian forces.
A CNN team visited the basement and saw the bodies before removing them. It was in an advanced stage of decomposition.
Five men were tortured and executed by Russian soldiers, an adviser to Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Gerastshenko told CNN on the spot. CNN can not independently verify Gerashchenko’s allegations.
The men were found in an area held by the Russian army until a few days ago. Several fox holes, trenches and places for armored vehicles were still visible around the site, as were other Russian diets. Several letters “V” – informal symbols for the Russian military campaign – were also painted at the entrance to the territory.
The dead had their hands tied behind their backs and most had multiple gunshot wounds, not only to the head but also to the lower extremities. There were several cartridge cases on the floor next to the corpses.
Volunteers removed the bodies and placed them in bags, which were later removed.
One volunteer told CNN that they were retrieving corpses in large numbers, saying “there are hundreds, not dozens.” The volunteer and his unit showed CNN the bags of the bodies of at least 30 people who were retrieved on Sunday, plus nine more on Monday, including five found in the basement.
This unit is one of the many operating on the outskirts of Kiev.
