While on mission in Bangladesh, (click here) I have been closely following recent developments in and around Ukraine with increasing concern.
I remind all sides conducting hostilities on the territory of Ukraine that pursuant to the declaration lodged on 8 September 2015, accepting jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or the "Court"), my Office may exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within the territory of Ukraine since 20 February 2014 onwards.
Any person who commits such crimes, including by ordering, inciting, or contributing in another manner to the commission of these crimes, may be liable to prosecution before the Court, with full respect for the principle of complementarity. It is imperative that all parties to the conflict respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.
My Office has also received multiple queries on the amendments to the Rome Statute with respect to the crime of aggression, which came into force in 2018, and the application of those amendments to the present situation. Given that neither Ukraine nor the Russian Federation are State Parties to the Rome Statute, the Court cannot exercise jurisdiction over this alleged crime in this situation.
My Office will continue to closely monitor the Situation in Ukraine. In the independent and impartial exercise of its mandate, the Office remains fully committed to the prevention of atrocity crimes and to ensuring that anyone responsible for such crimes is held accountable.
Following my return to The Hague, I intend to issue a more detailed statement regarding the Situation in Ukraine, providing clarity on my assessment and the next steps I envisage in relation to this file.
Last Friday, (click here) I expressed my increasing concern, echoing those of world leaders and citizens of the world alike, over the events unfolding in Ukraine.
Today, I wish to announce that I have decided to proceed with opening an investigation into the Situation in Ukraine, as rapidly as possible.
Ukraine is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or the "Court"), so cannot itself refer the situation to my Office. But it has twice exercised its prerogatives to legally accept the Court's jurisdiction over alleged crimes under the Rome Statute occurring on its territory, should the Court choose to exercise it. The first declaration lodged by the Government of Ukraine accepted ICC jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes committed on Ukrainian territory from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014. The second declaration extended this time period on an open-ended basis to encompass ongoing alleged crimes committed throughout the territory of Ukraine from 20 February 2014 onwards.
I have reviewed the Office's conclusions arising from the preliminary examination of the Situation in Ukraine, and have confirmed that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with opening an investigation. In particular, I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine in relation to the events already assessed during the preliminary examination by the Office. Given the expansion of the conflict in recent days, it is my intention that this investigation will also encompass any new alleged crimes falling within the jurisdiction of my Office that are committed by any party to the conflict on any part of the territory of Ukraine....
This handout picture taken and released on July 27, 2022 by Ukrainian Presidential press service shows Andriy Kostin during the hearing in the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv.
Political will is needed to establish a Special Tribunal (click here) to hold Russia accountable for crimes of aggression in Ukraine, and the number of countries supporting the creation of the tribunal is growing, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin has said.
“Due to legal restrictions, the International Criminal Court cannot consider the case of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and I consider this a primary international crime, without which all other horrors against the civilian population would be impossible. And we cannot afford to leave this act of violence against the whole country unpunished,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.
Kostin specified that it is about creating a tribunal from a very wide range of participants.
“It cannot consist of only five to seven countries, it should include all [countries], and I mention this at every meeting. It is important that, first of all, these are countries that are important from the point of view of the perception of the legitimacy of the results of this tribunal,” Kostin said.
At the same time, the Prosecutor General drew attention to the fact that the main thing for the creation of a tribunal is political will.
“Speaking about the need to create this institution, I always emphasize to foreign partners, ‘If you have already voted at the level of the General Assembly, PACE, the European Parliament and confirmed that there was a fact of armed aggression, then you should take the next step’,” he said....
The heinous crimes against humanity by Russia are well documented and witnessed. The reason that Russia nor Ukraine belonged to the International Criminal Court was appeasement for peace with Russia by Ukraine and now it presents some obstacles in the way of prosecutions of those guilty of these crimes.
Early on the International Criminal Court definitely stated the actions by Russia were genocide. The definitions of the crime are clear and the action of Russia more clear. Because these two countries were outside the abiding authority of the ICC there was an imbalance in thinking about human life. Russia believed Russian speaking people were a Russian commodity to be used and disposed of as Russia saw fit. The Free World, with an interest in humanity, witnessed the atrocities and began to take refugees by the millions while assessing the Ukraine military and it's ability to take and hold ground to protect Ukraine borders.
The atrocities are real. There are Ukrainians dead today, including children and babies, that should be alive. The Free World as well as others need to provide a strict understanding that such atrocities will not be tolerated and there is a peaceful way of making such a statement in a court of justice.
This court must go forward. It must make the statement that every crime against humanity will require justice. To allow such brutality in the world is only asking for it to happen again. The war Russia chose to carry out is nothing short of heinous and illegal in every definition of war.
If a tribunal is all the world has to remedy this level of self-righteous killing by Russia then it must be held and those responsible for Ukrainian deaths must face the world in their acts of violence that killed the innocent.
Clearly, no desperate act of appeasement will work in facing war with Russia.
