End the Double Standard: U.S. Accuses Russia of War Crimes While Continuing to Oppose the ICC

The United Nations General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday, a resolution that accused Russia of committing human rights abuses in Ukraine. We speak with human rights lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck about the apparent double standards and weaknesses in the current international criminal justice system in light of the U.S. committing similar crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nations like the U.S. have refused to submit themselves to any kind of international jurisdiction because “they want to lead their wars,” says Kaleck. “The International Criminal Court will only get off the ground in the near future if Western states agree to apply universal standards.”