Tajikistan: Arrest Putin - ICC Members Should Not Welcome Fugitives

( Brussels) – Tajikistan should deny entry to Russian President Vladimir Putin or arrest him if he enters the country, based on an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for him, Human Rights Watch said today. The Kremlin announced that Putin is planning to travel to Tajikistan on October 9, 2025, to attend a Russia-Central Asia summit and a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

President Putin has been subject to arrest by the ICC since March 17, 2023, when the court’s judges issued warrants against him and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, over war crimes of unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia and Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine.

“Putin should be in The Hague to face the charges against him, not attending summits hosted by an ICC member,” said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “If it welcomes Putin, Tajikistan will be showing utter disregard for the suffering of victims of Russian forces’ crimes in Ukraine and for its own obligations as an ICC member.”

Tajikistan joined the ICC in 2002. Under the ICC’s founding treaty, Tajikistan has an obligation to cooperate with the court, including by arresting and surrendering any suspects who enter its territory. Tajikistan would be defying this obligation if it allows Putin to enter the country without arresting him. Without its own police force, the ICC must rely on states and the international community to assist in arrests.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/08/tajikistan-arrest-putin

It would promote hope in a world that holds little promise for millions of innocent people.