Explainer: U.S. President Joe Biden has publicly called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, but legal experts said a prosecution of Putin or other Russian leaders would face high hurdles and could take years
The International Criminal Court in The Hague defines war crimes as "grave breaches" of the post-World War Two Geneva Conventions, agreements which lay out the international humanitarian laws to be followed in war time. Breaches include deliberately targeting civilians and attacking legitimate military targets where civilian casualties would be “excessive,” legal experts said.Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russian forces of targeting civilians indiscriminately.
Russia may decide not to cooperate with the ICC and any trial would be delayed until a defendant is arrested. “If it keeps happening again and again and the strategy appears to be to target civilians in urban areas, then that can be very powerful evidence of an intent to do so,” said Alex Whiting, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School.A war crimes investigation may focus on soldiers, commanders and heads of state, experts said.
Legal experts said the bombings in Mariupol of a maternity hospital and a theater marked as sheltering children, appear to fall under the definition of war crimes. But securing a conviction can be difficult. "It's not a fast process by any means. The fact that things are moving already is a really strong sign," Hamilton said.
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