WORLD NEWS FLASH
WORLD
The Pre-Trial Chamber of the UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin of Russia on March 17, in connection with alleged war crimes concerning the deportation and “illegal transfer” of children from occupied Ukraine, the head of the ICC said.
“The contents of the warrants are secret to protect the victims,” said ICC President Piotr Hofmański. “Nevertheless, the judges decided to make the existence of the warrants public, in the interest of justice and to prevent future crimes.”
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II also issued a warrant for the arrest of Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. The orders state that each are “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation” of children from occupied territories in Ukraine to Russia, the UN-backed court said in announcing the warrants.
“The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from February 24, 2022,” the ICC detailed. “There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin and Ms. Lvova-Belova bear individual criminal responsibility.”
The court found reasonable grounds that Mr. Putin bears responsibility for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and, or through others, and “for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility.”
All allegations are in line with the Rome Statute. Neither Russia nor Ukraine are parties to the statute, which created the judicial body in 1998.
ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan said those responsible for alleged crimes must be held accountable and that children must be returned to their families and communities.
“We cannot allow children to be treated as if they are the spoils of war,” he said. “Incidents identified by my Office include the deportation of at least hundreds of children taken from orphanages and children’s care homes. Many of these children, we allege, have since been given for adoption in the Russian Federation.”
Through presidential decrees issued by President Putin, the law was changed in Russia to expedite the conferral of Russian citizenship, making it easier for them to be adopted by Russian families.
“My Office alleges that these acts, amongst others, demonstrate an intention to permanently remove these children from their own country,” he said. “At the time of these deportations, the Ukrainian children were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
The Chamber had initially decided that the warrants should not be published in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation, Mr. Hofmański said.
However, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the Chamber considered that it is “in the interests of justice to authorize the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Chamber,” the ICC said.
Asked by reporters to comment on the arrest warrants at the regular Noon Briefing in New York on March 17, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, stressed that the ICC and the UN were “separate institutions, with separate mandates.”
EUROPE
MET POLICE SLAMMED IN REPORT
A new report on those protecting and serving in the UK is not singing their praises, but rather shouting their iniquities.
The Baroness Casey Review reporting on the Metropolitan Police Department was just released, and it pulled no punches. The police were chided for racism, bias against LGBTQ citizens, an indifference towards crimes against women, and poor management. There was also criticism of treatment of whistleblowers, bad cops staying on the job, harassment, and abusers in the department.
Amid the deep seated issues, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “This report sparks feelings of shame and anger but it also increases our resolve.
“I am proud of those people, our officers and staff, whose passion for policing and determination to reform moved them to share their experiences with such honesty.
“This is, in many ways, their report. It must be a catalyst for police reform.
“This report needs to lead to meaningful change. If it only leads to pillory and blame of the exceptional majority of officers then only criminals will benefit.
“We need it to galvanise Londoners, the dedicated police majority and politicians to coalesce around reform and the renewal of policing by consent for the 21st century.”
The review was commissioned by the Met in October 2021 following the appalling murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and its publication follows other catastrophic and criminal incidents involving other officers.
Baroness Casey was asked to examine the standards of behavior and internal culture of the Met and to make recommendations on the actions required.
Her final report, published March 21, explores a wide range of issues including the Met’s organization, its support for officers and staff, discrimination, standards, its approach to protecting women and children and its wider operational effectiveness.
Rowley added: “The appalling examples in this report of discrimination, the letting down of communities and victims, and the strain faced by the frontline, are unacceptable.
“We have let people down and I repeat the apology I gave in my first weeks to Londoners and our own people in the Met. I am sorry.
“I want us to be anti-racist, anti-misogynist and anti-homophobic. In fact, I want us to be anti-discrimination of all kinds.
“There are external factors – funding, governance, growing demand and resource pressures that shouldn’t sit with policing – that the report has identified. Baroness Casey is right to identify the impact these have had on our ability to police London, but there can be no excuses for us.
“The core of the problems are for policing to determinedly confront.”
UNITED STATES
SIX MORE OATH KEEPERS FOUND GUILTY IN CAPITOL BREACH
Six additional members and affiliates of the Oath Keepers were found guilty in the District of Columbia March 21 for their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Sandra Parker, 63, of Morrow, Ohio; Bennie Parker, 72, of Morrow, Ohio, Connie Meggs, 60, of Dunnellon, Florida; Laura Steele, 53, of Thomasville, North Carolina; and William Isaacs, 23, of Kissimmee, Florida, were found guilty of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, a felony. Sandra Parker, Meggs, Steele, and Isaacs were also convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiring to prevent an officer of the United States from discharging a duty and destruction of government property, all felonies. All five defendants, along with co-defendant Michael Greene, 39, of Indianapolis, Indiana, were found guilty of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor.
“With this verdict, the Justice Department has now secured convictions of 14 Oath Keepers members and affiliates for felonies surrounding the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “I am grateful to the prosecutors, agents, and staff for their tireless work on these cases. The Justice Department is committed to holding accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6th assault on our democracy.”
Parker, Steele, and Isaacs were, additionally, found guilty of obstructing officers during a civil disorder, a felony, for joining the mob that tried to push against officers down the hallway from the Rotunda to the Senate Chamber; Isaacs was found guilty of one additional count of obstructing officers during a civil disorder for his conduct in entering the building; and Steele was found guilty of tampering with evidence.
The jury could not reach a verdict with respect to the charge of obstruction of an official proceeding against defendant Greene. Greene was found not guilty of the first and third counts of the indictment, and Bennie Parker was found not guilty of the second and third counts.
According to evidence presented at trial, the defendants and their alleged co-conspirators coordinated in advance of Jan. 6 and traveled across the country to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in early January 2021. On the afternoon of Jan. 6, around 1:30 p.m., Oath Keepers leader Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, who was convicted in an earlier trial of seditious conspiracy and related charges, sent a message on an encrypted group chat announcing that Vice President Michael R. Pence would not intercede to stop Congress’ certification of the electoral college vote, and so “patriots” were taking matters into their own hands.
Moments later, Sandra Parker, Bennie Parker, Steele, Meggs, and Isaacs joined with other Oath Keepers members and affiliates in marching towards the Capitol. They donned paramilitary gear such as helmets and vests. They passed barricades and Capitol Police officers and entered the restricted area of the Capitol grounds. Then Sandra Parker, Steele, Meggs, and Isaacs joined with 10 co-conspirators in placing hands on shoulders and marching up the steps and into the Capitol in a military “stack” formation.
Once inside, half of the group – including Sandra Parker, Steele, and Isaacs – tried to force their way past riot police officers towards the Senate Chamber. The other half of the group – including Meggs – moved towards the House Chamber, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office. In the words of Kelly Meggs, a co-conspirator who was convicted in an earlier trial of seditious conspiracy and related charges, the group was looking for Speaker Pelosi.
In total, 29 Oath Keepers members and affiliates were charged as part of the Capitol Breach investigation. To date, eight have pleaded guilty, and all 15 who have proceeded to trial have been found guilty. Six are awaiting trial.
The charges of conspiracy to obstruct Congress, obstruction of Congress, and tampering with evidence carry a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; the charge of destruction of government property carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; the charge of conspiracy to prevent members of Congress from discharging their duties carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison; and the charge of interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison; the charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds carries a statutory maximum of one year in prison. All charges carry potential financial penalties. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia with valuable assistance provided by the Justice Department’s National Security Division and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Cincinnati Field Office, Charlotte Field Office, Jacksonville Field Office, and Tampa Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 26 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 320 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
