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U.S. accuses Russia of war crimes in Ukraine. What does it plan to do about it?
The U.S. is openly accusing Russia of war crimes in Ukraine. Legal scholars say don't expect Russian President Vladimir Putin to face trial anytime soon.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We have a story on the difference between saying and doing. It's the difference between saying Russia committed war crimes and getting those claims into court. Vice2 President Harris did the first part the other day. She attended the Munich Security Conference and said Russia committed crimes against humanity, quote, "we have the evidence." NPR's Deborah Amos reports on the second part.
DEBORAH AMOS, BYLINE3: The vice president's words are rooted in international law. Crimes against humanity, when acts of war are widespread, systematic4 and intentionally5 targets civilians6. In the early weeks of the war, President Biden called Vladimir Putin a war criminal. But a year later, the U.S. has yet to translate its rhetoric7 into prosecution8, says human rights lawyer Reed Brody.
REED BRODY: Ukraine has made this a priority.
AMOS: Brody wrote "Catching9 A Dictator," a book about the conviction of a brutal10 African leader. Catching a Russian president is even harder.
BRODY: Nobody's going to be putting the handcuffs on Vladimir Putin anytime soon. But these are crimes that have no statute11 of limitations.
AMOS: There is some good news here, says David Scheffer, who served as the first ambassador for war crimes issues in the Clinton administration.
DAVID SCHEFFER: Never before in the history of humankind has a situation of mass atrocities12 been investigated so quickly by so many individuals.
AMOS: Still, even as the vice president vowed13 accountability in Munich, conversations around that security conference shows countries in the global south are not yet on board, says Brody.
BRODY: As somebody who worked in Africa for the last 30 years, I'm just so aware of this perception, particularly in the global south, that international justice only kicks in against enemies and outcasts, that there's one justice for the West and there's one justice for enemies of the West.
AMOS: For Ukraine, the enemy is Russia. And Ukraine's leaders insist on justice in their national courts and at the International Criminal Court at the Hague. But their ultimate aim is even higher, an international war crimes tribunal with the jurisdiction14 to judge Russian aggression15. That law was created for the Nuremberg tribunals 80 years ago. The crime of aggression, also called the leadership crime, targeted those who planned and carried out World War II.
(APPLAUSE)
AMOS: Ukraine's prosecutor16 general, Andriy Kostin, was in Washington a few weeks ago to lobby the Biden administration for backing
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANDRIY KOSTIN: Being optimistic, we will have it. And then our idea will be real.
AMOS: His to-do list is a challenge. For starters, international trials get a mixed political reception in Washington. For example, the U.S. didn't join the International Criminal Court, but used its political muscle to weaken it, says Brody.
BRODY: Britain, France and the United States were able to limit the ICC's jurisdiction so that it can't prosecute17 aggression by citizens of non-consenting states, like Britain, France and the United States - but also like Russia.
AMOS: An international war crimes tribunal could be created by a majority vote at the U.N. General Assembly.
JAMES GOLDSTON: Not to date. We'll see.
AMOS: That's James Goldston with the Open Society in New York. He says a U.N. vote is far from clear.
GOLDSTON: There has been resistance to the notion that this is a global problem, with the suggestion by some that this is a European problem or a northern problem.
AMOS: Again, Reed Brody.
BRODY: There already is a lot of justice in Ukraine. I mean, there are massive war crimes investigations18 that will work their way up. He will not get off, justice wise, whether or not there is a tribunal for aggression, the supreme19 international crime.
AMOS: International justice is often uneven20, takes years and rarely delivers accountability. Yet Ukraine's victims will settle for nothing less than documenting their trauma21 in an international court of law.
Deborah Amos, NPR News, New York.
1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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2 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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3 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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4 systematic | |
adj.有系统的,有计划的,有方法的 | |
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5 intentionally | |
ad.故意地,有意地 | |
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6 civilians | |
平民,百姓( civilian的名词复数 ); 老百姓 | |
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7 rhetoric | |
n.修辞学,浮夸之言语 | |
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8 prosecution | |
n.起诉,告发,检举,执行,经营 | |
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9 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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10 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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11 statute | |
n.成文法,法令,法规;章程,规则,条例 | |
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12 atrocities | |
n.邪恶,暴行( atrocity的名词复数 );滔天大罪 | |
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13 vowed | |
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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14 jurisdiction | |
n.司法权,审判权,管辖权,控制权 | |
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15 aggression | |
n.进攻,侵略,侵犯,侵害 | |
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16 prosecutor | |
n.起诉人;检察官,公诉人 | |
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17 prosecute | |
vt.告发;进行;vi.告发,起诉,作检察官 | |
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18 investigations | |
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究 | |
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19 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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20 uneven | |
adj.不平坦的,不规则的,不均匀的 | |
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21 trauma | |
n.外伤,精神创伤 | |
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