Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has joined a short list of sitting leaders charged by the International Criminal Court.
The warrant announced against him on Thursday puts Mr. Netanyahu in the same category as Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the deposed president of Sudan, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. As part of their membership in the court, countries are required to arrest people for whom it has issued warrants, though that obligation has not always been observed.
Here is a closer look at some of the leaders for whom warrants have been issued by the court since its creation more than two decades ago.
Vladimir Putin of Russia
The court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Putin in March 2023 over crimes committed during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including for the forcible deportation of children. A warrant was also issued for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.
Mr. Putin has since made several international trips, including to China, which is not a member of the court. His first state visit to an I.C.C. member since the warrant was issued was in September, to Mongolia, where he received a red-carpet welcome.
Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan
The court issued warrants in 2009 and 2010 for Mr. al-Bashir, citing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the western region of Darfur.
The court has also charged several other Sudanese officials, including a former defense minister, Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, with crimes in Darfur.
In 2015, Mr. al-Bashir traveled to an African Union summit in South Africa in defiance of the warrant, but was not arrested.
Mr. al-Bashir, 80, was deposed in 2019 after three decades in power, and also faces charges in Sudan related to the 1989 coup that propelled him to power. He could receive the death sentence or life in prison on those charges if convicted.
Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya
The court issued arrest warrants in 2011 for Libya’s then leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, along with one of his sons and his intelligence chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity during the first two weeks of the uprising in Libya that led to a NATO bombing campaign.
Mr. Qaddafi was killed by rebels in Libya months later and never appeared before the court. His son remains at large.
William Ruto of Kenya
The court dropped a case in 2016 against William Ruto, then Kenya’s deputy president, who had been charged in 2011 with crimes against humanity and other offenses in connection with post-election violence in Kenya in 2007 and 2008. Mr. Ruto was elected president of Kenya in 2022.
Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast
The former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, was also indicted by the court in 2011 over acts committed during violence after the country’s elections in 2010.
Mr. Gbagbo and another leader in Ivory Coast, Charles Blé Goudé, were acquitted in 2021.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
