As the International Criminal Court starts to probe allegations that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine, legal experts warn that prosecutors face serious obstacles to bringing senior officials to justice.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is grave, severe and defined by one characteristic only: aggression,” Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said on Wednesday.
“Russia is invading into the heart of Ukraine, seeking to depose its lawfully elected government, with a real and potential massive impact on civilians’ lives, safety and well-being; its acts cannot remotely be justified on any of the grounds that Russia has offered.”
Since February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, there have been a series of reports of attacks on residential areas, indiscriminate shelling and other alleged violations of international humanitarian law.
The Kyiv Independent reported on February 28 that Russian forces blasted Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, with Grad multiple rocket launcher systems, striking residential buildings and killing 11 people. Other media have reported similar attacks on other Ukrainian cities.
As Western countries stepped up economic sanctions against Russia and a UN General Assembly resolution condemned the invasion, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced on Wednesday that he had decided to “immediately proceed with active investigations” into possible war crimes in Ukraine.
Khan said that 39 of...
Image: Facebook/SAPS The IDAC has rubbished rumours that it has a J50 warrant of arrest for KZN provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi as “false”. This comes after re...