Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew from the International Criminal Court on Wednesday in response to accusations that his government has committed war crimes in Syria and unjustly annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
The withdrawal is the latest escalation of diplomatic tensions between Russia and Western powers, as the ICC was formed in 2002 through the United Nations in order to investigate war crimes, acts of genocide and military actions that violate the U.N. charter. Russia’s withdrawal is just the latest blow to the court, which has been also recently been accused of unfairness by African countries.
“The court’s future is obviously up to the court to decide and discuss,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “It’s hard for us to characterize the trend, qualitatively, in terms of the decision that some of these states are making.”
Three African countries withdrew from the court in the last two months, but Russia’s abandonment carries extra geopolitical weight, as it is motivated by disputes in two of the most pressing flash points in the world.
The withdrawal was announced the same week that the ICC reported that Russia’s annexation of Crimea “amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” as Foreign Policy noted.
Russia, however, cited the African exodus from the ICC and the court’s criticism of Russian behavior during its 2008 conflict with the former Soviet state of Georgia. “The court failed to meet the expectations to become a truly independent, authoritative international tribunal,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Wednesday statement.
Although Russia joined the ICC in 2000, the treaty was never formally ratified, which allows Putin to withdraw unilaterally. The United States took a similar action when George W. Bush withdrew the presidential signature from the ICC due to concern that the court would become a forum for international prosecution of American military personnel and government officials.
“We’re not a member but we also continue to support the work that they do, that we believe — the prosecutions that advance U.S. interests,” Kirby said. “Obviously we don’t believe that Russian or Syrian activity is in keeping with international law, and the ICC would be a body that could deal with that.”
