International Criminal Court.
I'm left wondering how it is that insolence, rudeness, aggression, arrogance, and ignoring all the parameters of decent behavior still has plenty of room to implement misguided ideas. It's happening on all sides. Of course, the most glaring example is Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While there are real historical circumstances on the aggressor's side that can be used to explain a "special military operation", they will in no way stand up as an alibi. Crossing the borders of a sovereign state with the help of military force and carrying out terrorist acts against civilians in an attempt to conquer foreign territory and change the political structure of another country is an act that must be tried by an international tribunal. History remembers the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946), in which the victorious powers dealt with the main culprits of the Second World War. This set a precedent which has its fulfilment in the creation of the International Criminal Court based in The Hague (2002). This court was set up, among other things, to prosecute those responsible for war crimes and genocide. However, fascist leaders could be tried because Germany surrendered unconditionally in 1945 and its territory was occupied by the victors. So there was a format that allowed the trial to take place. In addition, some of the main perpetrators of serious crimes preferred to commit suicide in time to avoid justice. Symbolism that contains both disappointment and satisfaction. However, it seems that the perception of war crimes committed in Ukraine is, after all, somewhat distorted west of our borders, and not only there. Many politicians and ordinary citizens do not equate fascism with communism or Bolshevism. Both pit citizens against each other, divide society, give it false hopes and gradually create an apparatus of power that promotes the practices of a select group. The current regime in Russia has all the hallmarks of a full-fledged successor entity to the former Soviet Union. A state that has destroyed the lives of tens of millions of people and entire generations not only on its territory but also in its sphere of influence. Today's Russia is proud of its criminal history and its actions are a direct continuation of the darkest moments of its history, such as Stalin's pact with Hitler (better known as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact), which was one of the direct reasons for the start of the Second World War (1939-1945). Considerations, democratic principles, humanity, the belief in the automatic victory of good over evil and charity are encountering another, new quality in today's world. The relativisation of everything, manipulation, lies without limits and unabashed cynicism. And that's how we live here.
photo: Nuremberg Trial