There's plenty of evidence that Russian forces have violated the international rules of warfare, but the systems in place to enforce those laws move slowly and have limited power.
The phrase “war crimes” is often used as a general term to describe a broad range of horrifying acts committed during a conflict. But for something to be prosecuted as a war crime, it must fit a much more specific definition as outlined in a number of international treaties — most notably the Geneva Conventions.
“You’ve got to prove that they knew or they could have known or should have known. There’s a real risk you end up with trials of mid-level people in three years and the main people responsible for this horror … will get off the hook.” — Philippe Sands, international law expert, to“The unavoidable truth is that the way to protect civilians from war crimes during ongoing war is not merely to threaten punishment for crimes sometime in the future but to put a stop to them now.
“The choice of legal forum is tomorrow’s problem. Today’s is making certain that evidence of those crimes is collected, documented, and preserved so that the world will never forget the horrors being perpetrated against the people of Ukraine as part of Putin’s war of choice.
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