The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has urged Russia to rescind arrest warrants issued against senior judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC judges, who are tasked with investigating and trying individuals charged with significant crimes such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression, found themselves subject to these orders following the execution of ICC Prosecutor Khan Karim Asad Ahmad and Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala’s arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova in March.
This action was taken in response to the alleged unlawful transfer and deportation of children from occupied Ukraine to Russia. In response to this action by the ICC, the Russian Interior Ministry (RIC) initiated an investigation of Prosecutor Khan and three court judges. Notably, it pressed charges against Ahmad and Aitala in July and delivered arrest warrants for ICC President Piotr Hofmanski, First Vice President Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, and Judge Bertram Schmitt in September.
In rebuttal to these actions, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani expressed shared concern with the Presidency of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties, characterising these moves as unacceptable and calling for their immediate retraction. More significantly, the Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties replicated its deep concern about the criminal proceedings initiated against the President and judicial officers of the ICC, positioning these moves as calculated attempts to undermine the Court’s independent mandate to investigate and prosecute the most serious international crimes.
For more information on this development, you can read the full report here.