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Why the U.S. never joined the war crimes court

Published April 18, 2022 at 10:40 AM PDT
The International Criminal Court, or ICC, is seen in The Hague, Netherlands. (Peter Dejong/AP)
The International Criminal Court, or ICC, is seen in The Hague, Netherlands. (Peter Dejong/AP)

President Biden has called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There are also growing reports of alleged human rights violations in Ukraine by Russians, as well as calls for Putin and others in Russia to be held accontable for these crimes.

One venue for such a future trial is the International Criminal Court in the Hague. But the United States does not support the court, nor does Russia.

Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd talks with David Scheffer, former U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes issues and now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations for more details.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.