New York (dpa) – Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is backing a reform of international law so that perpetrators of a war of aggression such as Russian President Vladimir Putin can be held accountable. “In the 21st century, no one should be allowed to wage a war of aggression and go unpunished,” said Baerbock prior to a trip to New York, where she plans to attend a ceremony at the United Nations (UN) to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“The ICC is already a sharp sword in the eyes of the perpetrators,” said the minister, adding that, in the eyes of the victims, the Court stood for the hope that their suffering would not go unpunished. “This is why any gap in the possibilities of prosecution is particularly painful.” In the case of crimes of aggression against “the most precious asset we have: our peace”, the hurdles for prosecution were still too high, she said. International law had to do justice to the “realities of the 21st century”, said Baerbock.
On a visit last January to the seat of the Court in The Hague in the Netherlands, Baerbock already proposed changing its legal basis – the Rome Statute – in such a way that the offence of a war of aggression could likewise be prosecuted without restriction. The Foreign Minister also supports the proposal to hold the Russian leadership accountable for the war of aggression against Ukraine by means of a special tribunal. Such a tribunal should be based on Ukrainian law.
The ICC launched investigations into war crimes in Ukraine shortly after the Russian war of aggression began in February last year. Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan sent the largest group of investigators ever sent by the Court to the war zone. In addition, a separate office was opened in Kyiv.
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