The International Criminal Court says Tajikistan breached its obligation to help bring war criminals to justice by hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin last October.
(CN) – The International Criminal Court ruled Thursday that Tajikistan violated the Rome Statute by not arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin last October when he visited the Central Asian country.
As of March 2023, the Hague-based court demanded the arrest of Putin on allegations that he oversaw the kidnapping of Ukrainian children during the war in Ukraine. The Rome Statute is the treaty that underpins the ICC, the world’s only permanent court that prosecutes war crimes and genocide.
In recent years, the ICC has suffered serious reputational blows with Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who is also wanted for war crimes – making foreign trips without consequence, including to the United States.
The United States is among several major countries that do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC. China, Russia, India, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran are other countries that reject the powers of the ICC.
In April 2025, Netanyahu visited Hungary in defiance of the court’s authority. During the Israeli leader’s visit to Budapest, the far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán DESIGNATED Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC, becoming the first member of the European Union to leave the court.
Thursday in power carries no penalty against Tajikistan.
Tajikistan faces the most censure from other treaty parties when they meet as an assembly. The ICC does not have the power to sanction countries that violate their duties.
Last October, Putin attended a meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, of the Commonwealth of Independent States, an economic, political and military bloc made up of former Soviet republics.
Putin’s visit to Tajikistan came one year after waiting in September 2024 from Mongolia, another party to the ICC, without fear of arrest. Earlier, the ICC found that both Mongolia and Hungary had violated the Rome Statute for not arresting Putin and Netanyahu, respectively.
Mongolia and Tajikistan rely heavily on trade and good relations with Russia, and the chance of arresting Putin was almost nil.
In their defense to the ICC, Tajikistan and Mongolia argued that they could not arrest Putin because Russia does not recognize the ICC and the Kremlin leader was protected by immunity enjoyed by heads of state.
The ICC judges rejected those arguments.
“Tajikistan failed to fulfill its international obligation to the court and to the international community as a whole to cooperate in the arrest and extradition of Mr. Putin,” the judges wrote.
Tajikistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ICC referred questions from Courthouse News to the Assembly of States Parties, a body made up of countries that recognize the court. That chamber did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
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