Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed an executive order on Wednesday Nov 16,2016 removing Russia's
signature from the International Criminal Court's founding treaty,
piling pressure on a court that is already reeling from withdrawals by
some African countries.
The
ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, was founded when 120 countries
adopted its founding treaty in 1998.
It is seen as a successor to the Nuremburg trials after World War II and ad-hoc U.N. war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
Moscow
never ratified the treaty, which it signed in 2000, meaning it never
became a member subject to its jurisdiction. But the symbolic move
coincided with the opening day of the general assembly of member states.
On
Monday, the ICC angered Moscow by referring to Russia's 2014 annexation
of Ukraine's Crimea as an armed conflict. It is also examining
allegations of war crimes committed by Russian and Georgian forces
during a brief 2008 war.
"Unfortunately,
the court has not justified the hopes attached to it and has not become
a genuinely independent authoritative organ of international justice,"
the Foreign Ministry said.
"It is revealing that in its 14 years of work the ICC has pronounced just four verdicts and spent over $1 billion."
Russia
is under international pressure over its campaign of air strikes in
Syria, with some human rights activists and U.S. officials accusing it
of bombing civilians and civilian targets. Russia has denied those
allegations.
Russia's
announcement may be welcomed by African states like South Africa and
Gambia, which have recently announced their withdrawals, but critics
said the move was yet another example of Moscow flouting international
norms.
"It
confirms Russia's retreat from its international commitments," said
Human Rights Watch activist Liz Evenson. "It's closing the door for
people within Russia to this important judicial institution."
Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the decision to withdraw
Russia's signature had been taken "in the national interest" and was a
formality as it didn't change anything as far as jurisdiction was
concerned.
Most
African and European countries continue to support the court, the first
permanent international war crimes tribunal. But many expect it to face
increased diplomatic pressure from the United States under
President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised a less internationalist
foreign policy stance.
It is seen as a successor to the Nuremburg trials after World War II and ad-hoc U.N. war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
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