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On August 3rd, GGI invited international criminal law expert William Schabas (William Schabas) , an international law professor at Middlesex University in London, to be a guest on the seventh podcast of "The Viewpoint of the Classics", and hosted the special host of the podcast. Think tank researcher Wang Lin discussed the possibility of a Russian-Ukrainian war crimes trial and its impact on international criminal law.
Sabas observed that after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out in February, the International Criminal Court (ICC) quickly focused its attention on the investigation and possible trial of Russia's war crimes in Ukraine. Some believe that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict could be a panacea for the ICC that will revive, revitalize and enhance its importance. However, Sabas believes that launching a war crimes investigation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is more like a poison pill for the ICC. He worries that the ICC will become a NATO court, follow NATO's priorities, and deviate from the original intention set by the ICC, that is, a true international court.
In March of this year, after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out, the ICC officially launched a situational investigation into potential war crimes in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and quickly advanced the process. The ICC has dispatched a team of 42 investigators, forensic experts and support staff to Ukraine in what has become the prosecutor's office's "largest operation since 2003," according to ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan. On-site deployment".
The United States and its European allies are also actively supporting the process. The U.S. State Department launched the Conflict Observatory program "to obtain, analyze and make widely available evidence of potential war crimes and other atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine." At the same time, the European Commission also decided to allocate 7.25 million euros to ensure the enhancement of the ICC's ability to conduct actual investigations.
Sabas bluntly stated that he has been paying close attention to the International Criminal Court since its establishment and had high hopes for it as an international permanent institution, but looking back on its development in the past 20 years, from the perspective of output, the International Criminal Court is an order of the day. Disappointing, only five people were convicted. Many trials were terminated because prosecutors or judges did not have sufficient evidence, among other reasons.
Sabas introduced that the ICC was set up to operate in a way that some crimes were not tried — that is, adhering to the principle of complementarity, usually when a domestic court was negligent or absent, and the crimes that should be punished were not tried. down (unable or unwilling). The situation in Ukraine does not fit. Ukraine is already conducting war crimes trials, prosecuting some Russian soldiers through investigations and sentences to life in prison, among other things. In fact, there is no reason or necessity for the ICC to investigate and try the war crimes in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. What's more, to a certain extent, there may be war crimes on both sides of Russia and Ukraine (while the ICC has only initiated investigations against Russia), but Western countries have remained silent on possible crimes in Ukraine.
“I personally think that the Ukrainian courts are more efficient than the ICC. The case that was tried by the Ukrainian court two months ago, if placed in the ICC, may take three to four years. The ICC’s investigation of war crimes in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and There is no reason for a possible trial, only symbolic, " Shabas said.
When it comes to whether the ICC's investigation can have a deterrent effect on both sides of the conflict, Sabas believes that the deterrent effect on Russian soldiers is not large. Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute and has no obligation to cooperate with the ICC. He has always argued that the role of deterrence in criminal law should not be overstated.
Regarding the fact that some people with ulterior motives in the West have brought to the ICC to investigate the situation of the Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang, Sabas believes that, considering that one of the ICC prosecutors' political stance is very biased towards NATO, those who hold such a stance may also hope that There is an opportunity to investigate whether someone in China (the ICC generally targets high-level officials or generals) has violated the Rome Convention. China needs to be prepared because this will be a political decision (not a legal one). “If the prosecutor can target a Chinese investigation, people who support the prosecutor now because of his stance on Ukraine will support him even more. But there will be a lot of legal difficulties with such an investigation, and then the time comes. Smart lawyers are needed to defend the Chinese."
Evidence and fact-finding are very important to international criminal trials. The data and information fabricated by Western scholars and activists such as German scholar Zheng Guoen have been cited by some Western governments and lawyers. In this regard, Shabas paid close attention to the reports of relevant organizations and individuals. He found that all allegations of so-called "genocide" were not supported by strong evidence. These organizations and individuals also admitted in the report that there was no evidence to support There is an "intent to physically wipe out a race", a key point that makes the accusation of "genocide" untenable.
On August 3, the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan caused the escalation of the situation in the Taiwan Strait. US officials and scholars usually use "defense of democracy" as the reason for their military intervention and use of force. In this regard, Sabas said that the United States is not "international". States parties to the Rome Statute of the Criminal Court, although they have advocated that force can be used to prevent crimes under the jurisdiction of other ICCs, this view has not been accepted by the international community. "Force" has no basis in international law.
William Schabas, expert in international criminal law and professor of international law at Middlesex University, London, UK
Editor｜ Wang Lin , researcher of Jingshi Think Tank, Schwarzman Scholar, Ph.D. candidate of School of Public Administration, Tsinghua University.
Review | Tian Shichen, President of the Economics Think Tank and Director of the International Military Action Law Research Center.
Proofreading｜Jiang Lin, Media Assistant of Jingshi Think Tank.
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