The Consequences of War Crimes - WSJ Editorial
The scenes of murder and mass graves from Bucha and other towns and cities in Ukraine are shocking the world, and we hope they linger in memory for longer than a TikTok video. The war crimes on prima facie display should underscore the West’s resolve that they can’t go unpunished.. President Biden added his outrage on Monday by repeating his charge that Vladimir Putin is “a war criminal” who should be put on trial. He called for an investigation, which is already underway at the U.S. State Department and the International Criminal Court in the Hague. But now that Mr. Biden and other leaders are calling out the crimes, they have to do something or the world will see that such brutality leads to momentary outrage but nothing more.
The scenes are widespread enough that they suggest more than the acts of a few renegade soldiers or a rogue squad or company. Bodies are strewn up and down streets, some shot in the head with their hands tied. Reports of rape are widespread. .. These are all clear violations of the laws of war as understood by longtime custom. The investigations should pinpoint responsibility as much as is possible given the wartime exigencies. That doesn’t mean only looking to see if certain soldiers carried out the acts or if individual officers gave the commands. The widespread marauding suggests a general breakdown in military order that is the responsibility of officers whose men are under their command. That means holding Russian defense officials and officers responsible from the general staff down to company commanders.
A war crimes investigation needn’t start with Mr. Putin, and it might be better if it didn’t. The war is continuing, and the impact might be more significant on Russian morale if Russian officers know they will be held accountable. Start at the top with Sergei Shoigu, the Army general who has been minister of defense for a decade. Then move down through the ranks of officers who have served in Ukraine, starting with those who commanded troops in the regions where war crimes were committed. The indictments should name individuals and the specific crimes that occurred in the areas under their command. The names and charges, once announced, are sure to become known to the Russian forces. Perhaps it will concentrate minds about the dirty war they have been asked to prosecute and the trouble Mr. Putin has put them in.
This may also be a prosecution better done by Europeans than by the U.S. They are the people most acutely threatened by the war, and Mr. Putin would only be too happy to turn this into a Russo-U.S. fight. What matters is that the war crimes in Ukraine are investigated and, no matter the difficulty in prosecuting them, at least a diligent, determined effort is made to render justice so the world can see that Mr. Putin’s brand of war can’t be tolerated.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-consequences-of-war-crimes-russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-11649111126 (subscription)
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