World leaders have continued to express the desire to prosecute Russians for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. War crimes are generally tried in the International Criminal Court (ICC), which turned 20 years old in July.
The court, crated by the UN in 1998 under the Rome Statute, has opened an investigation into the “situation in Ukraine.” Ukraine is not a member of the ICC, but it has granted the court jurisdiction within its borders.
Member states allow for their citizens to be tried by the court. The United States, China and Russia have refused to join–therefore excluding their citizens from potential prosecution.
ICC prosecutors have pointed to the lack of international participation as the reason why most of the suspects they pursue are from African nations.
“It is actually African governments–African member states that are coming toward the ICC to request the ICC for intervention,” said International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.