History shows that it is very difficult to achieve international justice, but Zelensky is still worth a try.
Evidence of atrocities committed by the Russian army after its retreat from Central Ukraine is shocked. Moscow is trying in vain to deny everything and accuse others of falsifying this evidence. The massacre in Bucha and other Ukrainian cities cannot be attributed simply to the indiscipline of the war. After a month of deliberate destruction of homes, hospitals and schools, everything points to a systematic campaign of terror against the entire population. The atrocities revealed are reminiscent of the worst vices of World War II.
This was reported by The Guardian. The conflict in Ukraine is changing. And if it began as a comprehensive Russian conquest, it is now growing into a strategic exploitation of Donbass and the strengthening of Russia's position in the Black Sea. The current war has escalated what began in 2014. At the time, NATO and the Western world must have done the right thing by staying away. However, how will the world react now that new revelations have become known? The suffering of peoples in conflicts far from Europe tends to fade against the background of suffering “on the threshold” when they are shown every night on television. During the two decades of war in Afghanistan, millions of locals have starved. And their agony was not mentioned in the news. But this does not make the suffering of Ukrainians less real.
Read also: Business Insider: Russia committed genocide in Bucha and nothing else
This week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched an investigation to gather evidence of Russian war crimes. These include violations of the Geneva Convention on the Rules of War, genocide and crimes against humanity. International law expert Philip Sands stressed that the real problem that prosecutors will face in dealing with these crimes will be the ability to trace responsibility for them to the Russian authorities. That is, in the case of Ukraine, evidence will be needed that Vladimir Putin personally ordered or allowed all atrocities to be committed. Potentially, he may argue that he is not responsible for the fog of war or the horrors of battle. And this will have to be refuted.
The first indictment in the International Court of Justice against the incumbent was announced to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in 1999. He was accused of organizing seven massacres. He was tried for six years until he died in prison in 2006. He was not actually convicted. Meanwhile, life in Yugoslavia continued. And the trial of Milosevic has lost its repressive or deterrent effect. This indicates the difficulties that await Zelensky. However, they should not prevent him from seeking justice.
Read also: Tortured but not subdued: what Bucha looks like after the racist occupation (photo, video)
The brutality of the war requires constant publicity. And the West must offer full assistance in this matter. Another legal path proposed by Sands and others is the tribunal for the crime of aggression as such. The point here is that all the actions taken by the soldiers are the result of the decisions of their commanders up to the order to launch an unprovoked aggression against a foreign state. Putin cannot jump off this hook. His generals, even his suspiciously missing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, will claim to have obeyed the president's order. The Nuremberg tribunal, the signing of the UN charter and many other international actions have tried to ban attacks by one sovereign country against another. They concentrated responsibility at the point of power: democratic or authoritarian. It is a matter of mobilizing law and morality for the service of peace. Law is better than war.
But this approach, although attractive, is fraught with many obstacles. A UN Security Council decision will be needed, which Russia and possibly China will veto. Moreover, when it comes to military aggression, there are few countries left in the UN whose hands are clean.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other leaders are looking at a photo of Bucha and reflexively agreeing that something needs to be done. And the only thing they could think of was “even tougher sanctions.” Although these restrictions were as severe as possible given the size of Russia's economy, they have not been able to contain Putin. Polls show that Russians and elites in Moscow are not against the actions of the Russian president. Feelings of siege and cultural ostracism forced both to dig into patriotic trenches.
“Putin's decisions are determined by battles, not sanctions, tanks, not banks. If the West wants to help Ukraine, it should send it more weapons, “the newspaper writes.
There is little evidence in history to suggest that decisions in the midst of war are made on the basis of economic considerations. Many sanctions inflict “pain” on mostly poor people. Nor should we ignore the most durable weapon – the tribunal of world opinion. People from Bucha have seen photos not only in Europe and the United States, but all over the world. Russia's reputation has been severely damaged. There will come a time when the cries of an angry world will pierce even Moscow's lying machine. As for Putin, he has secured the status of a pariah for the rest of his life. His yacht will never drop anchor in West Harbor.impressed the whole world and caused natural indignation among the leaders of all civilized countries. In the liberated territories of Kyiv region found mass graves with dead Ukrainians . On the streets of Irpen, Bucha and other cities are bodies shot in the back of the head with their hands tied behind their backs, and burnt corpses on the roads. World media and Ukrainian journalists report on the atrocities of Russian soldiers during almost a month of occupation of Kyiv region, including the rape of minors.
Bucha was called the second “Srebrenica”, and the mysterious Russian soul went to Hell under the song of Leps. The best day that can come now is to punish war criminals. Including Russian generals who give orders, soldiers who shoot civilians, propagandists and artists who sing and lie in support of the bloody regime. But for this to happen, two conditions must be met. Which? Read about it in the article Inna Vedernikova «Depopulation of Russia. Who and how documents the atrocities of the “Russian measure” in Bucha “.
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