War crimes in Ukraine: "There are thousands of possible suspects, and thousands of possible trials"
Iva Vukusic in The New York Times
As the war continues, various human rights organisations are working hard to gather evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Assistant Professor in International History Iva Vukusic tells The New York Times why obtaining justice is so complicated in such situations.
Resourses
The international attention for the war in Ukraine is enormous. As a result, help for the Ukrainian victims is being provided from various directions. Although this is well-intentioned, the hectic nature of the situation means that the overview is sometimes lost, says Vukusic. "Resources are being poured in, but maybe down the line we will see that they were not being spent the right way."
Vukusic points out that the international nature of the war creates an uncountable number of potential trials. "there are thousands of potential suspects, and thousands of potential trials." And all that material has to be properly gathered and analysed, Vukusic says.
International Criminal Court
The number of trials that eventually make it to the International Criminal Court in The Hague will be small. Vukusic also warns that the ICC could be criticised for working too closely with the Ukrainian authorities, as Ukraine is also " an actor in this war".
Vukusic fears that Ukrainian officials will set the expectation for justice very high, while such cases are incredibly complicated and can take years. "No big case is going to be finished in two years or five years because of the scale of the violence and the fact it is going on for so long", Vukusic points out.