ICC's arrest warrant for Putin and the case of United States.

 On March 17, the International Criminal Court(ICC) issued "warrants of arrest warrant of two individuals : Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms. Maria Alekseyevna Lvova- Bevola". Maria is the commissioner for Children's Right in the office of the President of the Russian Federation.

What is the ICC?

ICC is as the International Criminal Court and its headquarters is in Hague, Netherlands, is an independent judicial body that 

Countries who are the signatory of the Rome Statute

began functioning on July 1, 2002, when its founding and governing document, the Rome  Statute, came into force. It was established to prosecute the most heinous offences where a country's own legal machinery failed to act- like in Rwanda and erstwhile Yugoslavia. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crime against humanity, war crimes and the crime of agression. 

Why have the warrants been issued?

According to a press release issued by the ICC, President Putin and Lvova-Belova are allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from the occupied areas to the Russian Federation. For which they are charged under "Article 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute". The Rome Statute, adopted in 1998, is the international treaty that established the ICC. "The world received a signal that the Russian regime is criminal and its leadership and henchmen will be held

Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova- Bevola

 accountable", Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said in a satemnent in social media. "This is a historic decision which will lead to historic accoutability". According to the ICC "the crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022",the day Russia invaded Ukraine. The ICC warrants are already having an impact on Putin internationally, and it will only increase with over the course of the years as pressure mount on other countries to distant themselves from Putin and Russia. As now Putin can only travel to countries that are not the signatory of the Rome Statute. As in August 2023, Putin will travel to South Africa for the BRICS summit and South Africa is a signatory of the ICC, soon after the announcement of the ICC, South Africa was urged by the international community to arrest him if he travels to the country. According to reports from the State Departments Conflict Observatory, at least 6,000 children have been forcibly transferred from Ukraine since the start of the invasion. 

What did US does in 2020?

Joe Biden has welcomes the international criminal court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for the Russian President for war crimes. But he should be reminded of what Donald Trump did. So on June 11, 2020 Trump issued an executive order 13928, declaring a national  emergency and authorizing asset freezes and family entry bans

 against international criminal court officials. The order stated that a declaration of an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States" exists because of the ICC's assertions of jurisdiction over personnel of the United States and certain its allies, including the ICC prosecutor's investigation into actions, allegedly committed by the United States Military, Intelligence, and other personnel in or relating to Afghanistan, threatens to subject current and former United States government and allies officials to harassment, abuse and possible arrest