There is a loud and rising tone of voice calling for the International Criminal Court to pursue Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, the court said it would proceed immediately with an active investigation into possible war crimes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's suspected use of cluster bombs and so-called vacuum bombs in dense areas with many civilians is behind some of the complaints, and a coalition of countries has pushed for an ICC investigation.
"I want to be very clear that Mr. Putin is a war criminal," former Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk told the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday. "He will have to sit behind bars in the International Criminal Court."
However, if justice normally moves slowly, international justice hardly moves. Investigations in the ICC take many years. Only a handful of convictions have been won.
Here's a very comprehensive look at war crimes and the international justice movement.
Note: Some of the content below comes from CNN's research library, which has compiled information about the International Criminal Court.
What is the International Criminal Court?
Based in The Hague, Netherlands, and created by a treaty called the Rome Statute that was first brought before the United Nations, the International Criminal Court operates independently.
Most countries on Earth - 123 of them - are parties to the treaty, but there are very large and notable exceptions, including Russia and the US. And, for that matter, Ukraine.
Who can be prosecuted by the court?
Any person accused of a crime may be prosecuted under the jurisdiction of the Court, including countries that are members of the ICC. The court tries people, not countries, and focuses on those who hold the most responsibility: leaders and officials. While Ukraine is not a member of the court, it has previously acknowledged its jurisdiction.
Therefore, theoretically, Putin could be charged by the court of ordering war crimes in Crimea.
However, the ICC does not conduct trials in absentia, so he must either be handed over to Russia or arrested outside Russia. That seems impossible.
What offenses does the court handle?
The ICC is supposed to be a court of "last resort" and is not meant to replace the justice system of a country. The court, which has 18 judges serving nine years in prison, tries four types of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and war crimes.
What is war crime?
The ICC has specific definitions of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression. Read about them in this guide published by the ICC.
In particular, targeting the civilian population, violating the Geneva Conventions, targeting specific groups of people and more could be potential Russian war crimes.
What are cluster bombs and vacuum bombs?
The apprehension of using banned weapons to kill without discrimination is now being discussed as a very specific war crime.
With a cluster bomb, a missile is fired and explodes thousands of feet in the air, releasing smaller bombs, each of which explodes when it hits the ground. See an example from the Washington Post. Amnesty International said a Russian cluster bomb was dropped on a preschool in Ukraine.
"Vacuum bombs," or thermobaric weapons, suck oxygen from the surrounding air to produce a powerful explosion and a large pressure wave that can have hugely devastating effects. Russia has previously used them in Chechnya, and a CNN team spotted a Russian thermobaric multiple rocket launcher near the border with Ukraine late last month.
Is Russia using these weapons?
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that Russia is preparing to use these weapons.
The US is worried Putin and the Russian military will become more brutal because the invasion is not going as smoothly as they had planned.
What are the world leaders saying?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the targeting of civilian areas by Russian jets is a war crime.
President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have both said Putin is targeting civilian areas.
Johnson said in the UK parliament, "What we have already seen from the Vladimir Putin regime in the use of weapons they are already dropping on innocent civilians ... In my view, (this) is already complete." kind of qualifies as a war crime." Wednesday.
But Biden on Wednesday stopped short of saying Putin had committed a war crime.
"We are following this very closely," Biden said. "It's too early to say."
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, there is bipartisan support for a motion backing an ICC investigation.
How does ICC bring proceedings?
Court proceedings may be brought in one of two ways: either a national government or the United Nations Security Council may refer matters for investigation.
Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has veto power over the actions of the Council. This was requested by 39 national governments, most of whom were European, which led to this current investigation.
What will the ICC investigate regarding Ukraine?
In its new investigation into Russia's possible war crimes, the ICC has said it will look into all actions in Ukraine from 2013 to the present.
Russia first entered Crimea, which has been part of Ukraine, in 2014. The ICC was already investigating crackdowns on protesters by a previous Ukrainian government that was pro-Russian. It looks like this new referral puts all possible war crimes together.
How long do these tests take?
The ICC investigation can take a very long time.
The preliminary investigation into hostilities in eastern Ukraine lasted more than six years - from April 2014 to December 2020. At the time, the prosecutor said there was evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The next step was slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of resources in the court, which is conducting multiple investigations.
Why would the Ukraine prosecution be different?
According to Ryan Goodman, a professor of law at New York University and co-editor-in-chief of Just Security, an online forum, the international outcry against Russia is unparalleled, and it could give the court the potential to act differently.
"It is difficult to judge the ICC investigation based on past practice," Goodman said in an email. "In the situation in Ukraine, the prosecutor is bolstered by the extraordinary backing of support from dozens of countries, which I expect will lead to an infusion of resources."
How will the ICC case affect the conflict?
"For better or worse, the ICC investigation could affect the diplomatic space for talks," Goodman said, adding that Putin and other Russians do not want to risk arrest if they travel outside the country.
He argued that the investigation could also undermine Putin at home.
"Russia may realize that this is one more reason Putin can no longer serve his country," Goodman said.
What happened before ICC?
Previous trials for war crimes were brought by special United Nations tribunals, such as those listed for the former Yugoslavia, focusing on the Serbian autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, and for the Rwandan genocide.
It all stems from the precedent of the Nuremberg Trials to bring justice to the Nazis after World War II and conducted by the Allies, including the US, the Soviet Union, France and Germany.
So it is interesting that neither the US nor Russia are members of the ICC.
Why are the US and Russia not members of the ICC?
The US and Russia are both signatories to the treaty that created the court - meaning their leaders signed it - but neither is a member of the court.
Russia pulled out of court in 2016 after CNN published an ICC report called a "damaging verdict" on Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. The court also launched an investigation into Russia's 2008 efforts to support separate regions in Georgia in 2016.
At that time, France also accused Russia of committing war crimes in Syria.
As for the US, while President Bill Clinton signed the court-making treaty in 2000, he never recommended ratifying it to the Senate.
George W. The Bush administration drew considerable criticism, pulling the US from being a party to the treaty in 2002. The Pentagon and many US policymakers have long opposed engaging in such an international court system because it could open US troops to charges. of war crimes.
"The President (George W. Bush) thinks the ICC is fundamentally flawed because it puts American soldiers and women at fundamental risk of being prosecuted by an institution that is beyond America's reach, beyond US laws and can subject American citizens and the military to arbitrary standards of justice," said Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary at the time.
How has America supported the court?
Opposing the US joining the court did not mean that the Bush administration itself opposed the court. It supported ICC efforts to seek justice for the genocide in Sudan.
CNN's Tim Lister noted in 2011 that there has always been an awkwardness about how the US president deals with the court. He wrote of Barack Obama praising the ICC's efforts to bring justice to people such as former Serb General Ratko Mladi and Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, while not supporting the court for US surveillance.