People of the Philippines vs Vladimir Putin
IT may sound out of place for a professor of international law to write about the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin facing charges and being tried here in the Philippines for the crime of aggression and war crimes. I am not trying to be funny, but President Putin could very well be charged here in our country for crimes in violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
International Humanitarian Law is defined by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as a set of rules which seeks, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. IHL protects persons who are not, or who are no longer participating in the hostilities; it further restricts the means and methods of warfare. IHL is also known as the Law of War or the Law of Armed Conflict and most of its provisions may be found in the Geneva Conventions, also known as the Red Cross Conventions.
The crimes of aggression, war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity are considered so serious that some publicists (as what writers and commentators on international law are called) refer to them as unforgivable crimes. Thus, the court of any civilized State on this planet may try the accused for these crimes under the principle of universal jurisdiction. War crimes and crimes of aggression are deemed to be IHL violations.
The Philippines has Republic Act 9851, known as the “Philippine Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity.”
The Declaration of Principles and State Policies contained in RA 9851 emphatically affirm that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community must not go unpunished and at the local level; their prosecution must be ensured to put an end to these crimes. It is the “duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes,” says the statute.
The law also reiterated the constitutional provisions renouncing war as an instrument of national policy and the adoption of the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land. The statute was also internationalized by citing the sources which may be used in the application of the law, i.e., various international conventions like the Hague Convention of 1907, the Geneva Conventions on the protection of victims of war and international humanitarian law, rules and principles of international law, judicial decisions of international courts and tribunals, etc.
Section 4 of RA 9851 defines war crimes in the context of International Humanitarian Law. These are crimes committed against persons or properties protected by the relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions — willful acts that cause great suffering, or serious injury to body or health, extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.
Serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflict are also punished, namely: 1) intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; 2) intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects that are not military objectives; 3) launching an attack with the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians, or damage to civilian objects; 4) launching an attack with widespread, long-term, excessive and severe damage to the natural environment, disproportionate to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated; 5) launching an attack against works or installations containing dangerous forces with the knowledge that such attack will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects.
According to the law, the Philippines may try a person, whether military or civilian, suspected or accused of a crime defined and penalized by the law regardless of where the crime was committed, provided the accused, regardless of citizenship or residence, is present in the Philippines.
The law may also be invoked if the accused is a Filipino or if he is responsible for the death of a Philippine national. Among others, it imputes criminal liability on a person who orders, solicits, or induces the commission of a crime punished by the law.
A person’s official capacity does not exempt him from criminal liability since the law applies equally to all persons without regard to social status or official capacity. Even if a person is a head of state or government like Vladimir Putin, the sitting president of the Russian Federation, if found guilty of crimes defined and penalized under RA 9851, that person can spend the rest of his natural life in a Philippine jail. Such crimes are imprescriptible and when they result in death, serious physical injury or rape, the penalty is reclusion perpetua. Someone should lure this former KGB agent, citizen of Russia, aggressor of Ukraine to dock his yacht at Coron, Balesin or at the historic waters of Subic Bay.