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Mongolia’s failure to arrest Vladimir Putin on an international criminal court (ICC) warrant dealt a “heavy blow” to the international criminal law system, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Monday as the Russian president arrived for talks likely to focus on a new gas pipeline connecting Russia and China.
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Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi said: “Mongolia has allowed an accused criminal to evade justice, thereby sharing responsibility for the war crimes.”
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The ICC said last week all its members had an “obligation” to detain those sought by the court. In practice, though, there is little that can be done if Mongolia does not comply. “President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” said Altantuya Batdorj, executive director of Amnesty International Mongolia. “Any trip to an ICC member state that does not end in arrest will encourage President Putin’s current course of action and must be seen as part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC’s work.”
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In Brussels, the European Commission urged Mongolia to meet its obligations undertaken when joining the Rome statute of the ICC in 2002. Human Rights Watch noted that Mongolia was among 94 countries that signed in June a joint statement declaring their “unwavering support” for the ICC. Erdenebalsuren Damdin, a Mongolian, is one of the judges on the ICC bench. Mongolia welcomed Putin with a guard of honour and gave no indication he was at risk of arrest, while there was no official Mongolian response to the calls for it to honour the warrant.
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