ICC Charges Against Russian Officers

I spoke to the NYT about the conduct of hostilities charges being brought against Russian officers in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The court has pursued war crimes charges, but that is not all: “They’ve pulled them together into a charge of crimes against humanity, making the point that they don’t think that this is just individual bad acts,” said Rebecca Hamilton, a law professor at American University. Because that particular crime requires that the attacks be connected to a state policy, “The crimes against humanity charge says, ‘No, this was part of a systematic plan by the state to run the war in this way, with civilians being harmed.’” I also had the change to explain why I think this sends an important signal to conflict actors in Gaza; it suggests that when the laws of war are repeatedly violated, the ICC will not take at face value the claims that this were isolated incidents but will instead look to the broader context. You can read the full article here.