The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, Iran, China, South Africa) alliance is stronger than ever. The 15th annual meeting will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, and government leaders are urging all to attend. However, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has an outstanding warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin and South Africa is a member state.
President Cyril Ramaphosa understands the importance of the BRICS alliance and considered abandoning the ICC entirely before backtracking on his stance. Instead of leaving the ICC, South Africa now declares that it will grant diplomatic immunity to Putin to permit him to attend. “It is hereby published for general information that the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, in terms of section 6(2) of the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act 2001, has recognised (the meetings),” the department said. The terms in the United Nations Convention should prevent the ICC from arresting Putin, who is considered a war criminal for the invasion of Ukraine.
Specifically, the ICC charged Putin “for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute).” Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, is also wanted by the ICC for the same charges. The Kremlin has denied that the deportations were forced and said that they were attempting to save Russian children living in Ukraine. Ukraine only entered the ICC in March of 2022, but numerous countries, including China and the United States, do not recognize “the court of last resort.” Lvova-Belova told news outlets that she was proud of her work in removing children from an active war zone. “It’s great that the international community has appreciated the work to help the children of our country, that we do not leave them in the war zones, that we take them out, that we create good conditions for them, that we surround them with loving, caring people,” she stated.
So, will Putin take the risk? On the one hand, his presence would signal that he is unafraid of international law. On the other hand, the Neocons would delight in an opportunity to arrest the Russian president to begin WW3. A country would need to be extremely careful to arrest the head of a country with nuclear capabilities in the middle of a war.
