Grandstand. The offensive launched by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine seriously jeopardizes the international order after 1945. The Russian president has flouted the principles of the rule of law and the self-determination of peoples in favor of the use of force. The international community must realize that he fomented an act of aggression and gave the order to commit atrocities, and hold him accountable for his actions.
International law offers a number of instruments to hold him and his regime to account. On February 27, Ukraine seized the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
An unusual pattern
It bases its claim against Russia on an unusual ground: Moscow falsely claimed that acts of genocide had been committed against the populations of Russian origin in Donbass and launched a military operation against Ukraine on the basis of these allegations. . Kyiv sees this as an abusive use of the Genocide Convention. The court will hold hearings on March 7 and 8 on Ukraine’s request for provisional measures.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg has also taken up the case of Russia. On February 25, the Council of Europe suspended Russia from its participation in its Committee of Ministers and its Parliamentary Assembly. However, Moscow remains a member of the Council of Europe and a party to its conventions, in particular the European Convention on Human Rights, and may therefore have to answer for its actions in the event of a violation of human rights.
This can happen if, after having exhausted the remedies before the national authorities, a Ukrainian national or any other person who is the victim of a violation of the Convention brings a case before the ECHR or if one of the member States of the Council of Europe ( acting alone or collectively) brings an application against another State party to the Convention. 1er March, the European Court indicated interim measures to Russia following a request by the Ukrainian government.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which is already investigating crimes committed during the war between Russia and Georgia in 2008 and in Crimea in 2014, believes that there is reason to investigate the situation in Ukraine. On February 28, the prosecutor declared that he could open an investigation more quickly if an ICC member state so requests: thirty-nine countries, including France, have done so this week.
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