Nuremberg-style tribunal for Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine: the UN draft

A draft resolution for the creation of a tribunal Nuremberg hold the Russian leadership accountable for crimes of aggression in Ukraine🇧🇷 This is the document that would be circulating in the United Nations in New York and that the English newspaper has been talking about in the last few hours The Guardian🇧🇷

In particular, would there be signs that US opposition to the proposal could give in to pressure from the Ukrainian president, Zelensky🇧🇷

Beth Van Schaack, US Ambassador for Criminal Justice, speaking at an event in London, recently declared that it is something Kiev’s number one cherishes. “But the question is whether they will get votes at the general meeting,” she wondered. In fact, until now, Washington has not taken a definitive position on the establishment of a special court.

But, he added, “we are analyzing the whole situation and we are certainly in favor of some intermediate measures, namely with regard to the preservation of evidence”.

The International Criminal Court has already begun investigating the war crimes in Ukraine, but the leadership in Kiev argues that the ICC itself – if it can try those accused of war crimes in individual title – cannot exercise leadership Kremlin for the broader crime of aggression, as Russia is not a signatory to the statute in question.

Thus, according to Van Schaack, two options were considered: that of a bilateral treaty between Ukraine and the United Nations, “enshrined in some way by the General Assembly, which brings the political support of the entire international community to the constitution of an autonomous court”.

The second option, he said, is a internal court established by Ukraine with the EU or the Council of Europe, possibly approved by vote at the United Nations General Assembly. In both cases, the objective would be to prosecute the offense of assault. “It would be for a small number of defendants, probably the political leadership and perhaps even some senior military officials.”

The president of the EU Commission also supported the creation of a Nuremberg-style court last week, Ursula von der Leyen🇧🇷 The idea already has strong support from France, the Baltic countries and the Netherlands, but the position of the United States and UK it became less clear. Indeed, there is concern that such a measure could not only diminish the status of the International Criminal Court, but also serve as a off-side to achieve a peace agreement by the current Russian leadership.