Talking Foreign Policy: Experts discuss prosecution of war crimes in Russia-Ukraine conflict

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked the conscience of humanity.  The country has literally become a nation-wide crime scene. 

Daily reports of Russian atrocities appear in the news.  We’ve seen video of bombed out apartment buildings, schools, orphanages, hospitals, theaters, and churches. We’ve heard accounts of torture chambers, mass graves, and bodies bound and shot execution style.  These are not just random acts of violence by undisciplined Russian troops.  Evidence is mounting that this is part of a plan to ethnically cleanse Eastern Ukraine and intimidate the Ukraine population into submission. 

Worldwide, cries for accountability are deafening.  But are Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders beyond the reach of international criminal law? 

In this broadcast of “Talking Foreign Policy,” a panel of leading experts discuss the options and obstacles to bringing Russian leaders to justice.

• David Crane, former Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone
• Milena Sterio, Charles R. Emrick Jr.-Calfee Halter & Griswold Professor of Law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
• Jennifer Trahan, Professor of Global Affairs at New York University and head of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression
• Paul Williams, President of the Public International Law and Policy Group
• Michael Scharf, Dean of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law