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Published: 06 April 2022

The Ukrainian Killing Fields and the Radbruch Formula

The hideous massacres that Russia is committing and to which the world is a witness to, should suffice to energetically move the West and place potent offensive weapons in the hands of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Retreating Russian troops are leaving behind a trail of heinous atrocities. This was expected. Life, for the Putin regime and the country it controls, matters little. The Soviet Union and post-USSR Russia have a compelling history of waging war like savage barbarians. The liberated territories of Ukraine are showing the world that Russians have continued the uncivilized pattern of warfare that has characterized them for the last 105 years. The uncovered Ukrainian killing fields in Bucha, Irpin, Motyzhyn, Staryi Bykiv, Zabuchchya, Vorzel, Malaya Rohan, Trostyanets, and Mariupol raise a renewed international challenge to draw upon the Radbruch Formula against Russia in the International Criminal Court.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the horrific sightings, the “tip of the iceberg.” Testimonial accounts, lamentably, abound. Four hundred twenty-one civilian casualties were uncovered on Sunday alone. Anatoly Fedoruk, the mayor of Bucha, a city on the outskirts of Kyiv that was under Russian occupation, noted that over two hundred eighty corpses were unearthed from mass graves. Photographs of dead civilians with their hands tied behind the back and gunshots to the head at close range offer clear signs of sadistic, execution-type killings. The naked dead bodies of women relay sessions of mass rape. Satellite images leave no room for doubt that the beastly crimes were committed by the Russian army. 

Upon visiting Bucha on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visibly touched by the horror he was witnessing. Emphatically, he condemned this as an act of “genocide” and the execution of “war crimes.” The Churchillian leader was not alone in this position. The U.S. view, as expressed by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, coincides with the Ukrainian authorities that highlight that this “show(s) further evidence of war crimes” against civilians. International outrage is leaving little room for timid reactions.

In a makeshift grave in a wooden area just outside Motyzhyn, a town 28 miles (ca. 45 kilometers) west of Kyiv, the tortured bodies of Olha Sukhenko, her husband Ihor Sukhenko and their 25-year-old son, Oleksandr, were discovered by authorities. “They tortured and murdered the whole family of the village head,” said Anton Herashchenko, former deputy minister at the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. In addition to civilians and elected officials, Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) offer further evidence of war crimes. On April 4, Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova confirmed that swapped prisoners of a recent exchange exhibited “signs of frostbitten limbs.” The Ukrainian POW’s, related Denisova, were imprisoned in basements without heating, denied food and kept without adequate clothing. Russia is unrelentingly violating the Geneva Conventions of 1949. 

The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense has made public a list with the names of Russian soldiers that operated in the Bucha locality during its occupation. The war crimes and the crimes against humanity committed rests on those soldiers, not only the Putin regime. Individual perpetrators bear responsibility The pathetic excuse of “just following orders” will not cut it. That matter was settled in 1946, thanks to the work of a German jurist, Gustav Radbruch, whose essay “Statutory Lawlessness and Suprastatutory Law,” outlined a course which judges in the Nuremberg Trials followed.

It was referred to as the “Radbruch Formula.” As the Nazi regime collapsed, the liberating forces unveiled the horrors of National Socialism. It turned out that a whole legal structure validated the atrocities. True to military discipline, German commanders insisted that they were only “following orders.” The Radbruch Formula established that if an act was so barbaric in nature, any law that authorized its execution was invalidated. Criminal accountability could not be pinned only on one person, in this case, Adolf Hitler. Individual culpability could not be circumvented.    

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued, in 1863, the world’s first modern codification of military conduct during a war. The “General Orders No. 100,” (Lieber Code), with its 157 provisions, established the legal basis for civilized behavior in the conduction of war. Respect for civilian lives, gentlemanly composure by combatants, and a standardized treatment of POWs are some of the norms that Lincoln’s war conduct codification sought to institute.

The invading Russian forces are proving that they are but a band of ghastly hordes. Putin’s fabricated historical fable prescribes nothing less than genocide to wipe out Ukraine and Ukrainians. The hideous massacres that Russia is committing and to which the world is a witness to, should suffice to energetically move the West and place potent offensive weapons in the hands of the Ukrainian armed forces. The Free World can never say, they did not know or did not see.

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Published: 05 April 2022

Ukrainian Deputy Inna Sovsun On Why Russia Started The War.

Inna Sovsun commended the Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion.

Member of the Ukrainian Parliament Inna Sovsun gave an exclusive interview with El American to talk with our contributor Julio M. Shiling about the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian Army in the face of Russia’s invasion.

Inna Sovsun, who was a former minister of education and science in her country and served as vice president of the Kyiv School of Economics, says she is amazed at the strength Ukrainian soldiers have shown in the field of warfare to defend their country.

“I remember my feelings and thoughts on the first day of the war, when we heard the explosions and several hours after that, like literally five hours after we heard the explosions, we heard that the Russians were in Hostomel, which is 70 kilometers north of Kyiv,” Sovsun recalled, having believed that the Russians would take Kyiv within hours.

Sovsun, proud of the Ukrainian resistance

“Magnificent things” began to happen, the Ukrainian politician says, when ordinary citizens took up arms and voluntarily set off for Hostomel to fight the invaders. “We will kill them, we will not surrender, we will fight as long as we can,” they exclaimed.

Another “truly amazing” thing Sovsun has witnessed in Ukraine is that, in cities that were occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian citizens have come out to protest their presence, to peacefully insist that they leave.

“I knew that Ukrainians are strong, I knew that they are resilient, I knew that they are stubborn, but you must realize that we are fighting a huge country, a huge army as well, even I had my doubts,” the deputy expressed. “Well, not anymore. Now, I am proud to say that I am Ukrainian and we can fight, definitely.”

Sovsun stresses that, although the conflict between Russia and Ukraine may seem recent, it is in fact “an ongoing battle between a European civilization and a barbarian civilization”, and says she hopes that this war will help his country to take “the final step towards Europe.”

“And that’s what Russia fears,” Sovsun continued. “That’s why they started the war. For this specific reason: because they are afraid that Ukraine will move westward, not militarily, but civilizational, and putting forward those ideas that they are so afraid of.”

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Published: 04 April 2022

Trading with Venezuela is ‘Anti-American’: A Conversation with John Suárez.

Suárez considers regimes such as those of Díaz-Canel, Maduro and Putin to be “thugs” whose response to potential threats is violence.

Suárez considers regimes such as those of Díaz-Canel, Maduro and Putin to be “thugs” whose response to potential threats is violence

The Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba, John Suarez, sat down with El American to talk with our contributor Julio M. Shiling about the possible purchase of oil by the United States from Iran and Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, and the potential consequences it would have on national security and American interests.

Suarez distinguishes between two ways of measuring the effects of establishing trade relations with enemies of the United States. On the one hand, he notes that academia and leftist organizations suggest that there would be no consequences, and that the United States should trade freely with those countries.

Read more: Trading with Venezuela is ‘Anti-American’: A Conversation with John Suárez

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Published: 04 April 2022

Is Russia Plotting a War Front in Latin America?

The Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan dictatorships are probably more concerned than Washington and Brussels over the Kremlin’s diatribes.

The Soviet Union’s understanding of doctrinal internationalism split the world into regional spheres of influence, but with a caveat. The popular adage of the Brezhnev Doctrine’s “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is up for grabs” principle, was the cornerstone of Soviet foreign policy. It has been carried forward by the post-Soviet authoritarian regime of Vladimir Putin. Russia’s blatant disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty and the civilized order of political relations is evidence of this. Recent declarations by high-ranking American military leaders and State Department officials have issued stark security warnings. Could Russia be plotting a Latin American, Ukraine-like, war front?

During a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on March 31, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Policy, Planning, and Coordination, Kerri Hannan, testified about Russia’s threat in the Western Hemisphere. “The commitment to democracy in the Hemisphere has never seemed so urgent,” Hannan stated and added that “while Russia tramples on Ukraine’s democracy and threatens to export the Ukrainian crisis to the Americas, expanding its military cooperation with Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.” GOP Senator Marco Rubio (FL) concurred with the State Department official and said, “Russia is an acute problem, and it is a current challenge.”

Hannan’s testimonial declaration is not an isolated assessment. General Laura J. Richardson, the commander of the U.S. Southern Command, raised similar concerns on March 8 over Russian collusion with Latin American socialist dictatorships. Before members of the House Armed Services Committee, Richardson said that “Threats in South America, include transnational criminal organization as well as the meddling of both China and Russia.” The four-star general highlighted to Congress that “Russia, a more immediate threat, is increasing its engagements in the hemisphere.”

Yury Borisov, the Kremlin’s deputy prime minister, said in January that he could “neither affirm nor exclude” whether Russia would send military assets to Cuba or Venezuela. It is worth noting that days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Borisov paid a visit to Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Dictator Putin has developed a close relationship with the tyrannical troika of Miguel Díaz-Canel, Nicolás Maduro, and Daniel Ortega. Russian state news agencies have made no secret of this alliance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an address to the State Duma (Russia’s figurative parliament) in January that “the three friendly countries agreed to consider ways to further deepen our strategic partnership in each and every field.”

Putin’s top diplomat simply stated an obvious fact. Except for an 8-year hiatus (1991-1999), Russia has maintained a tight bond with Latin American socialism. The former KGB officer, undoubtedly, revamped the post-totalitarian model from which he came. The mixture of a crony and state capitalist-driven economy, Putinism shares many key characteristics with the São Paulo Forum’s dictatorial prototype, that concocted scheme devised by the deceased Cuban tyrant, Fidel Castro, in reaction to the fall of Soviet communism.

The Soviet Union invested heavily in promoting communism in the Americas. Putin’s willingness to forgive $53 billion of Russian debt owed by the Castro-Communist dictatorship, reflects the understanding of a partnered relationship. Russia’s activism in Latin America, following in the USSR’s footsteps, is channeled through Castro’s Cuba. The Russian GPS satellite spy base on the outskirts of Managua, the expansive military hardware transfer to Venezuela, and the espionage experimentation that, most likely, resulted in the Havana Syndrome in Cuba, all predate the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin may be seeking to scare the U.S.; threats of bringing the Russo-Ukrainian War into America’s backyard could shed, however, surprising consequences for his regime, as well as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. The people in those three captive nations could emulate the Ukrainians. A revolt is a possibility. If the Russian dictator arms and uses Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan territory, they would be considered complicit war allies, like Belarus.

Such a scenario would prompt the West to extend sanctions against the three socialist regimes. Given the mixing of geography and national security, the U.S. and NATO would likely send war vessels to the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Straits, and the Caribbean Sea. Putin has proved to be a bumbling war strategist. The Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan dictatorships are probably more concerned than Washington and Brussels over the Kremlin’s diatribes. Ukraine may well be a key to freedom in Latin America.

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