WarWatch reports details 34 international fugitives from justice

[Opinion. Some of these names will be familiar to you. Many will not. They are criminals of wars ignored in the West because these countries have no economic value to the great powers. That makes their crimes no less.

     All of these criminals have Interpol red notices. Many countries such as the US or UK choose to ignore their crimes. In other cases, they are sheltered by third countries or never travel outside their borders.

     Even national leaders are subject to justice. Netanyahu, predictably, called the charges antisemitic. Many are military leaders or paramilitary militants. You can run but you can’t hide.

     Note those who failed to appear before the ICC have been charged with contempt.

34 fugitives from justice, including

- Noureddine Adam 1 war crime 8 crimes against humanity (Central African Republic);

- Hibatullah Akhundzada 1 crime against humanity (Taliban persecution of women and girls;

- Omar al-Bashir  2 war crimes 5 crimes against humanity (Darfur);

- Abdallah Banda 3 war crimes (Darfur);

- Walter Barasa 3 contempt of ICC tribunal (Kenya);

- Jean-Pierre Bemba (Congo),

- Philip Bett 4 contempt of ICC (Kenya);

- Makhiouf Douma 4 war crimes (Libya);

- Rodrigo Duterte 3 crimes against humanity (Philippine drug war);

- Saif al-Islam Gaddafi 2 crimes against humanity (Libya);

- Yoav Gallant 2 war crimes 3 crimes against humanity (Gaza);

- Iyad Ag Ghaly 4 war crimes 4 crimes against humanity (Mali);

- Valery Gerasimov 2 war crimes 1 crime against humanity (Ukraine)

- Hamlet Guchmazov 5 war crimes (Georgia);

- Adbul Hakim Haqqani 1 crime against humanity (Taliban crimes against women);

- Ahmed Haroun 22 war crimes, 20 crimes against humanity (Sudan);

- Abdel Rahim Hussein 6 war crimes 7 crimes against humanity (Sudan);

- Abdulrehem Al Khani 4 war crimes (Libya);

- Joseph Kony 18 war crimes 21 crimes against humanity, 3 of genocide Uganda);

- Sergei Konylash 2 war crimes 1 crime against humanity (Ukraine);

- Nasser Al Lahsa 4 war crimes (Libya);

- Maria Lvova-Belova 2 war crimes (deportation of Ukrainian children);

- Mikhail Mindzaev 8 war crimes (Georgia);

- Benjamin Netanyahu 2 war crimes 3 crimes against humanity (Gaza);

- Osama Njeem 8 war crimes 6 crimes against humanity (Libya);

- Vladimir Putin (Ukraine) 2 war crimes;

- Mohamed Salheen 6 war crimes (Libya);

- David Sanakoev 2 war crimes (kidnapping and imprisonment 0f elderly and children in Georgia);

- Saif Suleiman Sneidel 3 war crimes (Libya);

- Abdelbari Al Shaqaqi 4 war crimes (Libya);

- Valery Shoigu 2 war crime 1 crime against humanity (Ukraine);

- Viktor Sokolov 2 war crimes 1 crime against humanity (Syria, Ukraine);

- Fatih Al Zinkai 6 war crimes (Libya).

     Some die during proceedings. Others are acquitted or have charges dismissed. Many receive rather short sentences in comfortable European prisons.

    Most charges result from war crimes against civilians pursued with impunity. Only the accused can determine whether they are guilty. Becoming a fugitive certainly looks like guilt.

     Many countries do not recognise the role of the ICC including the US, China,  India, Indonesia, Israel, Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and some African countries.

     Palestine is allowing ICC investigation into war crimes.

All data above is compiled from the International Criminal Court.

     War Watch is an interactive map of war crimes worldwide. Statistics are compiled from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.]

International law meant to limit effects of war at breaking point, study finds

Report covering 23 conflicts over last 18 months concludes more than 100,000 civilians have been killed as war crimes rage out of control

Dan Sabbagh

The Guardian: 2 Feb 2026

An authoritative survey of 23 armed conflicts over the last 18 months has concluded that international law seeking to limit the effects of war is at breaking point, with more than 100,000 civilians killed, while torture and rape are committed with near impunity.

[The study] describes the deaths of 18,592 children in Gaza, growing civilian casualties in Ukraine and an “epidemic” of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Atrocity crimes are being repeated because past ones were tolerated. Our actions – or inaction – will determine whether international humanitarian law vanishes altogether.”

The result is that “serious violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) were wrought”, the report continues, “on a huge scale and with rampant impunity” – while efforts to seek war crimes prosecutions have been limited in response.

One of the most deadly conflicts was in Gaza. Israel relentlessly attacked the Palestinian territory with airstrikes and ground incursions during the two-year war that began with Hamas’s 7 October 2023 assault.

Gaza’s total population “fell by about 254,000 people, a 10.6% decline compared with pre-conflict estimates”, the research notes. Although a ceasefire was agreed in October 2025, hundreds more Palestinians have been killed in fighting since. In all, 18,592 children and about 12,400 women had been killed by the end of 2025.

More civilians “were killed in Ukraine in 2025 than in the two previous years” – a recorded total of 2,514 – which War Watch notes was a 70% increase on the number killed in 2023. Russian drone attacks have deliberately targeted civilians, and millions of homes have lost electricity and other utilities.

Sexual and gender-based violence are documented in almost every conflict. Victims, the vast majority of whom are women and girls, range from year-old infants to 75-year-olds.

To reduce the number of war crimes requires enforcing a ban on arms sales by all countries.

[Many countries celebrate military culture and hold weapons fairs, including Thailand, to sell killing to other countries.]