Foreword

• Author: Luke Morton
• Profession: Barrister and Solicitor (Ontario) (Retired) Senior Counsel and Manager, Refugee Law Group, Department of Justice, Canada
• Pages: 21-31

xxi

Foreword

  

As the second edition of this book goes to print, war is raging in

Ukraine. The InternationalCriminal Court, headquartered in The

Hague, has sent teams of experts to Ukraine to investigate “allegations

of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any

part of theterritory of Ukraine.” Canada’s House of Commons voted

unanimouslyto approve the following motion: “That, given reports of

human rights abuses and attacks on civilians in Ukraine and other parts

of the world by the Russian-supported Wagner Group, the House call

upon the government to immediately designate the Wagner Group as a

terrorist entity.” The United States has designated the Wagner Group

a transnational criminal organization, citing human rights abuses in

Ukraine, Mali, and the Central African Republic. A former commander

of the Wagner Group is reported to have deserted, illegally crossed the

border into Norway, and applied for asylum in that country. Given

global events such as the war in Ukraine, the publicationof this import-

ant and excellent book’s second edition could not be more timely.

History — and this book — shows that although the wheels of inter-

national justice turn slowly, they do turn, and anyone found respon-

sible for committing atrocities such as war crimes or crimes against

humanity anywhere in the world can be held accountable. Although,

during the time of conf‌lict, those responsible for such atrocities are

usually insulated bynational borders and perhaps a sense of hubris and

invincibility, history has also shown that armed conf‌lictsend, regimes

eventually change, and persecutors often become the persecuted (or the