Opinion by Rebecca Hamilton and Ryan Goodman: How the world can prosecute Putin for going to war
to prosecute Putin for aggression has received nearly a quarter-million signatures in just three days.
Critics say the top priority is to stop the bombing, not seek accountability. They are right. Historically, the U.N. Security Council has been guilty of focusing on accountability in lieu of doing the hard political work needed to end a conflict. But concern about what is happening in Ukraine is high enough that there is policy space to use all available tools to stop the violence, while also laying the foundations for criminal law to do its work.
Critics also say that accountability will back Putin into a corner, leaving him without an offramp to withdraw from Ukraine. Yet he has already put himself in a corner; an isolated man and a global pariah. And while an anathema to no-peace-without-justice purists, diplomats generally welcome having the genuine threat of accountability as one more tool in their kit as they seek to end a crisis.
Showing that the international community will prosecute the “supreme international crime,” even against the leadership of a country with a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, is a powerful signal to would-be aggressors. Our model indictment shows how clear the criminal case is against Putin. Turning away from criminal accountability in this case would gut the progress that has been made on the crime of aggression, leaving the world less safe — and not only from Putin’s predations.
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