“We have reasonable grounds to believe that there have indeed been crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC,” confirms the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court. On his return from Ukraine, where investigations are being carried out on accusations of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity, Karim Khan gave an interview to “Complément d’Enquête”, the full text of which is here.
How does the court qualify a “war crime”? ? What are the offenses that constitute a violation of international law (including violence, including sexual violence, against women and children) ? How to define responsibilities? Following a document devoted to the hunt for perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine, “Complément d’Enquête” published on 23 June 2022 an interview with the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“There is no immunity for anyone”
“Anyone who carries a weapon, pilots an airplane, drives a tank, launches a missile, or simply someone who has a position of power over someone else, everyone has a responsibility in a conflict. “, listed Karim Khan, stressing that in this matter, “no immunity” cannot exist “for anyone”. According to the article 27 of the Rome Statute, there would therefore be no objection to Vladimir Putin himself being tried in The Hague, he asserts. That the Russian President, “the one who ordered this war”, “the one who is really responsible”, be brought before a court, that is what the mother of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, a French journalist killed in Ukraine, wishes in a particularly moving address to the Attorney General.
“No prosecutor worthy of the name starts an investigation with a predefined target (…). My compass is the evidence”, had reminded this one before.
“I’ve been to Boutcha, I’ve walked its streets, I’ve been behind St Andrew’s Church, and I’ve seen the bodies. They’re real corpses, they weren’t made up: people have been killed, but you still need a scientific approach.”
Karim Khan, ICC Prosecutor Generalto “Further investigation”
Careful work of collecting and examining potential evidence (in which Russia is invited to collaborate) is therefore continuing, so as not to “conclude by skipping important stages”, don’t be misled by “the fog of war”.
An interview broadcast in “Complément d’Enquête” on June 23, 2022.