Peterborough Examiner Referrer

Warrant makes Putin a marked man

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a marked man.

Not just by Ukraine. Not just by human rights activists who have called for his prosecution. And not just by the millions of people around the world who have witnessed Russia turn successive Ukrainian cities into chambers of horrors.

Now, the International Criminal Court has issued its own most conspicuous mark of shame — a warrant for Putin’s arrest.

He stands accused of committing among the most egregious of war crimes — crimes against children. At issue is Russia’s practice of “transferring” — kidnapping, really — Ukrainian children to Russia, where they are subjected to “re-education” — brainwashing, really.

The charges situate Putin in very different company from that to which he’s become accustomed. He’ll now be associated with men like Joseph Kony, the fugitive leader of Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, which has kidnapped and brainwashed numerous child soldiers.

Despite this precipitous fall from grace, some world leaders will still associate with Putin, much as Chinese President Xi Jinping did when he visited the Russian leader this week. But many others will now avoid Putin at all costs, including the leaders of all 123 countries that have accepted the jurisdiction of the court.

These countries, Canada included, are now under a legal obligation to arrest the Russian president should he enter their territories. Putin is therefore a marked man in all of these countries.

That is the power of the court, even if Putin never finds himself on trial in The Hague — even if, as some lament, the warrant is merely symbolic. But the symbolic element is not something to bemoan, for symbolism plays a large and important role in law.

Indeed, the warrant is a warning: According to legal scholar Rebecca Hamilton, anyone involved in the Russian re-education program, however peripherally, could find themselves in the dock one day — especially because they will never enjoy the protections afforded those who occupy presidential palaces.

The warrant might therefore deter the Russian people from participating in the child kidnapping program, and ultimately save Ukrainian children from the trauma of being torn from their families, their homes, and their world. That alone would be a victory.

Nonetheless, there are other battles that must be waged and won. The re-education program, however egregious, is just one example of Russia’s war crimes. As we’ve all seen, there are many more. But there’s nothing preventing the court from issuing further warrants: While Friday’s warrant was the first, it need not be the last.

Furthermore, while bringing Putin to trial will be no easy task, it’s not necessarily impossible, particularly if he one day no longer occupies the presidential palaces. The Kremlin’s response to the warrant was, naturally, filled with bluster and bravado: Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described it as “null and a void,” and “outrageous and unacceptable.”

Yet we’ve heard such bluster from other accused world leaders before — notably from Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who, while once seemingly untouchable, wound up on trial and died in custody. That fate might also await Putin if the Russian people decide they’ve finally had enough of the damage he’s done to both Ukraine and Russia.

On that point, the warrant’s symbolic value might be its greatest asset. Russian leaders, dissidents and citizens now know that Putin is a marked man. And by reducing Putin’s status — and stature — to that of just another fugitive war criminal, the warrant might very well help the Russian people see that they’re better off without him.

That said, the International Criminal Court is not a panacea. In the interest of justice, other avenues must also be pursued. The world must continue to investigate suspected war crimes, explore alternative forums for other trials, and develop strategies to end the war.

The International Criminal Court has done and will do its part; now the international community must continue to do the same.

OPINION

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2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thepeexaminerepaper.pressreader.com/article/281582359878587

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