Grisly images showing the slaughter of civilians in Ukraine prompted President Biden on Monday to call for a war crimes trial and repeat his accusation that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a war criminal.”
Images of mass graves with bodies scattered around Bucha, a northwestern suburb of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, emerged over the weekend. Photos showed bodies in civilian clothes with bound hands and legs, close-range gunshot wounds, and evidence of torture.
Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns surrounding Kyiv that were recently retaken from Russian forces.
“He’s a war criminal,” Mr. Biden said of Mr. Putin. “This guy is brutal and what’s happening in Bucha is an outrage and everyone’s seen it.”
Mr. Biden added that evidence still needs to be gathered to support prosecutors for a potential war crime trial. Russia denied Monday claims it killed civilians in Bucha with the country’s defense minister calling the accusations a “provocation.”
“We have to gather information. We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight,” Mr. Biden said. “We have to get all the details so this can be a war crime trial.”
The images drew widespread condemnation across both sides of the aisle. Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas Republican and ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the atrocities warranted even harsher sanctions on Russia over its nearly six-week invasion of Ukraine.
“No country can remain neutral in the face of such evil. These horrific images are a shock to the global conscience and demand further action to hold Vladimir Putin’s regime and Russia’s invading forces accountable for their war crimes,” he told The Washington Times.
Despite the mounting fury directed at the Russian leader, bringing him to trial could take years if it happens at all, legal experts say.
“It is going to take a long time and that is going to be one of the things that is most frustrating,” said Lauren Baillie, senior program officer for atrocity prevention at the United States Institute of Peace. “Calling out war crimes as they happen doesn’t have a deterrent effect on the responsible leaders, because they know what they are doing.”
The Geneva Convention, a post-World War II agreement, details humanitarian laws that must be followed during a war. Violations include deliberately targeting civilians, attacking civilian sites and abusing war prisoners.
The United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention distinguishes between war crimes, genocide and what it calls crimes against humanity. Each act must be considered under the circumstance in which it occurred and has separate legal thresholds to meet.
Genocide is defined as the intent to destroy an ethnic, racial, national, or religious group because of who they are.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that the Russian attacks amount to genocide, saying his people are being “destroyed and exterminated.”
Mr. Biden disagreed. When asked Monday if the civilian deaths amounted to genocide, he responded, “No. I think it’s a war crime.”
Nonetheless, any Russian official from Mr. Putin down to a low-level soldier accused of pulling the trigger could face war crimes charges for the slaughter in Bucha. A prosecutor could present evidence that Mr. Putin or another Russian state leader either ordered the illegal attack or knew war crimes were being committed but failed to stop them.
However, such cases are often limited by resources and efficiency, forcing prosecutors to focus on the highest-ranking officials. Penalties could include prison time, but also restitution if a civilians’ home or property was destroyed in an attack.
The International Criminal Court in the Hague has already opened up a probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine. However, neither Russia nor Ukraine is a member of the ICC and Moscow does not recognize its authority, complicating a potential case. Russia could decide not to cooperate with the ICC, thus delaying any trial until a defendant is arrested.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has given the ICC approval to examine evidence of atrocities on its land dating back to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Russia is also a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, meaning Moscow could block any war crimes accountability imposed by that body.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday the U.S. would push for the ICC or another body to hold Russia accountable. He suggested that the killings in Bucha were meant to “impose a reign of terror across occupied territories in Ukraine.”
“No, we don’t believe this is a random accident,” he said of the reports from Bucha. “We believe this was part of the plan.”
Still, if Russia doesn’t recognize the ICC’s authority and Mr. Putin remains ensconced in the Kremlin, there is little that can be done to enforce accountability.
“An absentia trial can be done, but they are not always the most credible because you want the defendant there to defend himself,” Ms. Baillie said.
Prosecutors’ conviction records in war crime cases are unclear, but they’ve had some success in recent years.
Former Yugoslavian ruler Slobodan Milosevic was put on trial for war crimes during the collapse of his country in the 1990s. He died in a prison cell before a United Nations tribunal could reach a verdict, underscoring the slow pace of justice in such proceedings.
However, two allies tried with Milosevic were convicted and both serving life in prison.
SEE ALSO: Biden calls for Putin to face war crimes trial after mass graves found in Ukraine
Charles Taylor, the former head of Liberia, is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence after being convicted of carrying out atrocities in Sierra Leone. Former Chad leader Hissene Habre, who died last year, received life in prison for crimes against humanity in his country.
— Staff writer Haris Alic contributed to this report.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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