On July 17, the International Conference “Ten Years of International Russian Crimes in Ukraine: Which Strategy Leads to Justice?” was held in Kyiv as part of the Ukrainian Week of International Criminal Justice.
Russia has been committing international crimes for years: in Chechnya, in Moldova, in Georgia, in Mali, in Syria, in Libya, in other countries of the world. Russians believe that they can do whatever they want because they have never been punished for anything. For ten years now, Russia has been committing international crimes in Ukraine, which began in 2014 due to the illegal occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol: shelling the civilian population in the territory controlled by Ukraine and abducting and torturing those temporarily occupied.
Russia destroys energy infrastructure and nature, uses banned munitions on the battlefield and incites hatred against Ukrainians through its propagandists. Russia rattles nuclear weapons in front of all humanity and deliberately creates a food crisis in the world.
The forum consisted of panel discussions and expert discussions where specific cases were investigated, are being investigated or may be investigated by the International Criminal Court. The event gathered lawyers, international lawyers, representatives of civil society organizations and state institutions to discuss the issues.
Unpunished evil always grows, so the participants and speakers were unanimous – this circle of impunity must be broken. The participants tried to outline what the Ukrainian strategy should be in the fight for justice. It was noted that there are several important questions and dilemmas on the way to its achievement.
What is better: absentee proceedings now or proceedings with the presence of the accused in the indefinite future? Hundreds of sentences with weak legal arguments within the judicial system that exists now, or dozens of sentences with strong arguments from a specialized court that can be created in the future? Judgments based on existing legislation or on the basis of amended legislation closer to the Rome Statute?
The event was organized by the Center for Civil Liberties within the framework of the Program for Promoting Public Activity “Join!” funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact in Ukraine.
International Criminal Justice Day is celebrated every year on July 17. This date was established in honor of the adoption in 1998 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – the first permanent body of international justice in history, which has jurisdiction directly on the basis of international law to bring criminal responsibility for the most serious crimes.
Read about the results of communication with foreign participants of the conference and the proposed ways of legal resolution of the punishment the aggressor for Crimean crimes in our following analytical materials
press attache of the Association
Ruslan Deremedved
