Putin's Mongolia Visit Shows Limits Of International Criminal Court

Mongolian officials rolled out the red carpet on September 2 for a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin. While visiting the vast East Asian country, which borders Russia to the north and China to the south, east, and west, Putin reportedly inked agreements on the supply of aviation fuel to Mongolia's capital, Ulan Bator, and presented proposals to improve rail connections between the two countries.

But Putin's visit made the headlines for different reasons: It was the Russian president's first visit to a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it issued an arrest warrant for him in March 2023.

The warrant is related to the illegal repatriation and relocation of children from areas of Ukraine seized by Russia following Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Member countries of the ICC are treaty bound to detain suspects if an arrest warrant has been issued, but Putin left the country on September 3 a free man.

What Is The ICC And Why Does It Matter?

The Rome Statute -- which was signed in 1998 and went into force in 2002 -- established the International Criminal Court. The permanent international court is responsible for prosecuting individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.

Campaigners for global justice see it as a significant milestone, as it set up a legal mechanism to hold individuals to account for crimes that transcend national borders.

The ICC is seen as a court of last resort. That means that, under "the principle of complementarity," the ICC may exercise its jurisdiction only if a national court is either unwilling or unable to prosecute grave crimes.

Since 2002, the ICC has indicted more than 50 individuals, mostly from African countries. Twenty-one people have been detained in The Hague, where the court is based; 10 have been convicted, and four have been acquitted.

Who Are Its Members?

There are some notable absences among the court's 124 signatories, including the United States, China, Russia, India, and Israel. Those countries have cited various concerns about the court, including national sovereignty, politicization, and the targeting of their militaries.

In 2016, Russia pulled its signature from the Rome Statute after the court branded its 2014 annexation of Crimea an occupation.

Why Didn't The Mongolian Authorities Arrest Putin?

Mongolia became a member of the ICC in 2003, and, in 2023, a Mongolian judge, Erdenebalsuren Damdin, joined the ICC's panel of sitting judges.

In an August 30 statement, ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah underscored that Mongolia, as "a state party to the ICC Rome Statute," must cooperate with the court, including with regard to arrest warrants.

Why Putin Didn’t Get Arrested In Mongolia

Following calls from, among others, Ukraine, the European Union, and the ICC to either deny entry to Putin or to arrest him, a Mongolian government spokesperson told Politico that the country was dependent on Russian energy and thus wasn't prepared to arrest the Russian president.

"Mongolia imports 95 percent of its petroleum products and over 20 percent of electricity from our immediate neighborhood.... This supply is critical to ensure our existence and that of our people," the spokesperson said.

The ICC does not possess an enforcement mechanism.

What Consequences Could Mongolia Face?

Several international human rights watchdogs warned Mongolia about the consequences of failing to arrest Putin. "If Mongolia provides even a temporary safe haven for President Putin," said Altantuya Batdorj, executive director of Amnesty International Mongolia, "it will effectively become an accomplice in ensuring impunity for some of the most serious crimes under international law."

For Marian Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, "welcoming Putin, an ICC fugitive, would not only be an affront to the many victims of Russian forces' crimes, but would also undermine the crucial principle that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law."

"In case of noncooperation, ICC judges may make a finding to that effect and inform the Assembly of States Parties [governing body]," El Abdallah said in the ICC statement before Putin's visit. "It is then for the assembly to take any measure it deems appropriate."

Mongolia Has 'Obligation' To Arrest Putin, Says Kara-Murza

It isn't clear, however, how exactly Mongolia might be sanctioned for failing to arrest the Russian president.

One possibility would be removing both Mongolia's judge from the ICC and removing the country from the list of signatories and ratifiers of the Rome Statute.

What Was Russia Hoping To Get Out Of Putin's Visit?

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, "all aspects of the president's visit have been carefully prepared." And Bloomberg reported before Putin's visit that Russia had secured guarantees that he wouldn't be arrested during the visit.

Russia was using the trip to "mock the ICC," wrote Elena Davlikanova, a fellow with the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis.

For Russia, the trip provided not only a distraction from Ukraine's recent incursion into the Russian border region of Kursk but was also a way to "help maintain Putin's image as a strong leader at home and abroad," Davlikanova wrote.

SEE ALSO: EU Expresses Regret That Mongolia Didn't Arrest Putin On ICC Warrant

She also said that that Putin's trip helped to undermine the ICC and any prospect of future prosecution of suspected war crimes. There is an ongoing discussion among various countries and international bodies about establishing a special tribunal to prosecute so-called crimes of aggression committed by Russian forces against Ukraine.

However, Kenneth Roth, the former director of Human Rights Watch, said that Putin's trip to Mongolia was "a sign of weakness." In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Roth said that was because Putin "could manage a trip only to a country with a tiny population of 3.4 million that lives in Russia's shadow."

Has Something Like This Happened Before?

In 2023, Putin had to skip a BRICS summit in South Africa, following pressure on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's government to detain the Russian leader if he arrived in the country.

South Africa had been criticized before, after it failed, in 2015, to arrest then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, an ICC indictee, during a visit to the country.

And Mongolia itself was among 94 countries that signed a joint statement in June expressing "unwavering support" for the ICC following criticism of the court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan. The prosecutor had tried to obtain arrest warrants for two Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and three leaders of the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist organization Hamas.