RiR Interview: Prosecuting Russian war crimes - with Bill Bowring and Steve Crawshaw

This month Mary Page’s guests to discuss Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and in particular the issue of prosecuting for war crimes and other human rights abuses committed by Russia in Ukraine, are both from the UK: the academic and human rights lawyer Bill Bowring (pictured left) and Steve Crawshaw, journalist, author and human rights activist (pictured right). Mary’s Guests Emeritus Professor Bill Bowring is an academic since 1990 and practising barrister since 1976 who has since 2006 taught human rights and international law at Birkbeck College, University of London. Bill was a Trustee of the Redress Trust, working for reparation for torture survivors, which led the Victims Coalition in the drafting of the 1998 Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court. Bill worked with the Redress Legal Officer Fiona McKay who drafted the provisions for victims in the Rome Statute. Fiona went on to become Chief of the Victims Participation and Reparations Section at the ICC, from August 2004 till December 2015, 11 years. She now serves with Bill as a Trustee of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, taking a keen interest in prosecution of individuals suspected of war crimes in the conflict in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. With Colonel Reverend Nicholas Mercer, the senior Army Lawyer in Iraq who blew the whistle on British war crimes and resigned, Fiona has participated in teaching Bill’s course at Birkbeck on International Criminal Justice. Steve Crawshaw is a former UK director and UN advocacy director at Human Rights Watch and has also worked previously as Russia and east Europe editor, and chief foreign correspondent, at The Independent newspaper. He has also held senior roles at Amnesty International and Freedom from Torture. His latest book, Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice, was shortlisted for the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing. Steve travelled four times to Ukraine while writing the book, as well as to Israel/West Bank and post-Assad Syria. His reporting as a journalist on Russia formed the background to Goodbye to the USSR (1992). Steve’s other books include Easier Fatherland: Germany and the Twenty-First Century (2004) and two books on creative protest: Small Acts of Resistance (with John Jackson, foreword by Václav Havel, 2010) and Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief (foreword by Ai Weiwei, 2017). This discussion was recorded on 26 February 2026 Mary’s questions: 1) Great efforts are being put into documenting war crimes and other human rights abuses committed by Russia during its war on Ukraine. What are the chances for prosecuting Russian actors? 2) As you know, peace negotiations (such as they are) have primarily been between the US and Russia, and only more recently also involving Ukraine. How do you see these negotiations? 3) How do you see the role and effectiveness of civil society organisations in today’s climate – on the international level human rights NGOs such as, for example, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and more local groups such as the Centre for Civil Liberties, the ZMINA Human Rights Centre or the Crimean Human Rights Group in Ukraine? 4) Finally, what is your prognosis for the future of human rights at this point in the 21st century?