Sergey Lagodinsky: Germany must lead the way for a special tribunal
2022-12-20 | International tribunal, Geopolitical analysisBy Sergey Lagodinsky. Last week on F.A.Z. Einspruch Volker Ullrich argued for a special tribunal for the Russianaggression against Ukraine. From the Greens’ point of view, the appeal is also correct. The Foreign Office must jump over its shadow.
Benjamin Ferencz was 27 years old when he became chief prosecutor at one of the Nuremberg tribunals, the so-called Einsatzgruppen trial. At that time, it was about SS crimes during the occupation of the Soviet Union. Today he is 102, and he wants to continue living: “I don’t have time to die, there is still a lot to do”. At that time, he was concerned with the crimes of the Nazis; today, he says, it breaks his heart that similar things are happening again.
Ferencz and many others, including me personally, are driven by the fact that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is not only a crime against human beings, but also a blatant crime against world peace. It must be punished. We owe that to the victims, we owe that to ourselves. Germany has always been one of the drivers for international criminal justice, also due to its own history. Now Germany must become a driving force in this area as well: It would be the most natural thing for our country to move forward here and support the Ukrainians in their efforts to hold Putin and his people accountable. So far, we hear little about this from Germany, only formalistic concerns if anything. Instead, we need bold leadership from Berlin here as well. That is what is expected in Brussels, and what is hoped for in Kyiv.
- Rome Statute makes persecution more difficult
- Credibility of the West
- Risks are manageable
The German version of the text; the English translation.
Originally published on Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.