Grandstand. The conflict in Ukraine, which began in 2014 as a non-international armed conflict between kyiv and separatist rebels in the east backed by Moscow, propelled the world into a new era with Russia’s entry into the war on 24 february. From a humanitarian point of view, this war unfortunately has nothing specific. Ukrainian victims belong to the same humanity and need the same help as those in Chechnya, Syria, Afghanistan or elsewhere. But this war stands out from the long list of these non-international conflicts. This time it is a direct war between two sovereign states. Beyond the destruction and suffering suffered by the Ukrainian population, this war threatens the very existence of the political and legal framework of international collective security established after the Second World War.
By invoking genocide to justify unilateral military intervention and by using the nuclear threat in an international armed conflict, Russia violates the rules of peaceful coexistence between States guaranteed by the United Nations Charter under the responsibility of the nuclear powers permanent members of the Council of security. The Kremlin also hopes to contrast its propaganda with materially proven reality. Admittedly, new technologies accelerate the spread of false information, but after the crimes committed in Boutcha, we also discover that secrecy, anonymity or state lies do not resist the multiplicity of open sources of information allowed by satellites. communication and social networks.
The establishment of Russian responsibility requires a double level of scrutiny. The first concerns the responsibility of the Russian state for the outbreak of the war – jus ad bellum“the right to war” – the second engages the individual responsibility of the perpetrators of crimes committed during the war – juice in bello, “Law in War”.
crime against peace
Regarding jus ad bellum, the International Court of Justice, which judges the States, has been seized since February 26 of the legality of the reasons for the war launched by Russia against Ukraine. Indeed, the United Nations Charter prohibits the use of armed force between States except in cases of State self-defence or a decision of the UN Security Council concerning threats to international peace and security. Even if they sometimes lied and abused this international legal framework, the United States, like the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, had, until then, formally submitted to it.
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