Yesterday, Sunday April 3, 2022, the world discovered with horror the crimes committed by the Russian army in the city of Bucha in the vicinity of Kyiv. I would like to say a few words about it.
First of all, all those guilty and responsible for these actions must be punished with the utmost severity. This means that all officers must be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity under national law before Russian courts before being sent to The Hague before the International Criminal Court for the same facts (raised to the international level). The “ordinary” soldiers who carried out the orders must also be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity under national law with the highest possible penalty.
Unfortunately this process cannot take place until the power has been changed in Russia. But speaking of power, this power just showed its true face yesterday: that of barbarism, that of fascism. It is therefore urgent to get rid of it. It is in the nature of the Russian people to fight fascism wherever it is. Today the Russian people are blindfolded and fed lies about what is happening in Ukraine. But it must understand that the fascist enemy is not in Ukraine but in the Kremlin. We must purify our Nation of any fascist element. From the lowest level to the highest. Putin and his entourage must also appear before the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity after being overthrown.
The horror we all saw yesterday is total. It is a disgrace that has forever tarnished the honor of Russia. When I think of all those innocent people who a few months ago were with their families celebrating the new year with their hopes and dreams and then met the Russian army to live through hell before dying in excruciating pain, my heart breaks and I no longer want to live. These Russian “soldiers” have sullied the honor of the army. They plunged a dagger into the heart of the Russian soul itself. They spat on the legacy left to them by their ancestors who fought the Nazi occupier.
This stain of blood on the banner of the motherland can never be completely washed away. And it must stay there so that we never forget what happened. What has been done is irreparable and unforgivable. And now I'm afraid we've crossed a point of no return. From now on it is hatred that will seize hearts. And hate create even more hate. I'm afraid we're only at the beginning of this hell. And that everyone will raise the bar higher until we are plunged into nothingness again.
So I want to leave this message: don't lose your Humanity. Just because the Russian military has dared to stoop to such a low doesn't mean it should become an excuse for everyone to abandon their morality. We are great only when we do not lower ourselves to the level of the other. Just because we were robbed doesn't release us from the moral obligation not to steal ourselves. It must be shown that if the Russian soldiers have lowered themselves, the world will not follow their example. The world will judge them, but will show what this Humanity that is under attack truly is. Saving Humanity goes first through the salvation of its own internal Humanity.
Legal details
Under international law, war crimes and crimes against humanity are never imputable to the State because it is considered that this kind of decision is necessarily illegal. So if a General gives the order to bomb civilians, this order is immediately illegal and not part of the law of the State. Thus the responsibility for these acts is not borne by the State but by the individual himself, which opens the way to criminal prosecution (which would have been impossible if the act was attributable to the State!). As for the State, it must only provide reparation for the acts committed by its nationals.
Thus Russia will have to repair the material and moral damage committed by these nationals who have acted outside the law.
But this aspect is even more important than you think because it means that the soldiers should not obey these orders! For indeed, if the order is illegal, the soldier does not have the duty to carry it out. Of course, the soldier must understand that the order is illegal. And it's all the more complicated when you think that this order is illegal in international law but not in domestic law (which would be a violation of international law in itself but I get carried away). Moreover, the soldier may be afraid to go before a military tribunal for refusing to obey orders and may even be summarily killed for this refusal. But the fact remains that in law, the soldier has no obligation to obey criminal orders and if he does, he engages his own responsibility and therefore cannot plead that “he was only obeying orders”.
This leads me to call on Russian soldiers to refuse to obey criminal orders, issued by incompetent leaders who betray them and who are under the orders of an illegal and corrupt power. The duty of a Russian soldier is now disobedience and mutiny. This is the only way for the Russian army to salvage what little honor it has left after the Bucha massacres.