Inviting Russian President: Abnegation of Duty to Arrest Putin Is Unacceptable

Editorial

16:21 JST, September 5, 2024

An arrest warrant has been issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of war crimes. Inviting him to one’s country and failing to fulfill one’s duty to detain him is nothing short of a violation of the rule of law.

Putin visited Mongolia and met with Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa. They issued a joint statement in which they pledged to strengthen their relations, mainly in the economic field.

Last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for taking Ukrainian children and others to Russia amid Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Fearing detention, Putin has so far limited his visits to states that are not members of the ICC, including China and North Korea.

Putin may use this visit to Mongolia as a breakthrough to visit other member states, such as Mexico. He may be aiming to undermine the authority of the ICC by intentionally creating a situation in which arrest warrants are not executed. His attitude of paying no attention to international law is too much to tolerate.

Mongolia, which has an obligation to cooperate in arresting Putin as a member of the ICC but accepted his visit, also bears a heavy responsibility. The ICC has 18 judges, and Mongolia provided one of them. Fundamentally, Mongolia is in a position in which it is supposed to actively implement ICC decisions.

Mongolia depends on imports from Russia for 90% of its petroleum products and purchases electricity from Russia to make up for what it lacks in power supply. Despite such economic circumstances, Mongolia should be aware that if it tolerates Russia’s lawlessness, it will lose the trust of the international community.

The ICC is an international organization that prosecutes and punishes individuals who commit war crimes, genocide and other crimes, but it does not have its own law enforcement body. Putin’s visit to Mongolia highlights the fact that the ICC has no choice but to rely on its 124 member countries and regions to deal with certain situations.

If more member states fail to fulfill their duty to arrest Putin in the future, the purpose of the ICC will be called into question. The international order based on the rule of law could be shaken.

If the ICC judges that a member state has failed to fulfill its duty to cooperate, it can refer the matter to its Assembly of States Parties or the U.N. Security Council. It should take this action for Mongolia as well.

International public opinion must be shaped through these procedures, even though they have no legally binding power.

Japan is the largest financial contributor to the ICC, and currently Tomoko Akane from Japan serves as its president. Through its support for the ICC, Japan needs to continue to bring Russian atrocities to the attention of the international public.

At the same time, Japan should take a firm stand in support of the rule of law against Mongolia and other countries that do not cooperate with the ICC, such as by reviewing bilateral economic assistance.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 5, 2024)