Moscow does not recognize court
War crimes hunters get office in Ukraine
03/04/2023 09:31 am
Shortly after the start of the Russian invasion, the International Criminal Court began investigating war crimes. Now the responsible public prosecutors are getting their own office directly in the Ukraine. However, they are not allowed to investigate the Russian leadership.
The government in Kiev has paved the way for the opening of an office for the prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Ukraine. At a conference in Lviv, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced that the cabinet had approved a corresponding agreement negotiated with the ICC. This will “allow the opening of an office of the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court in Ukraine in the near future”. This will enable the court to conduct better investigations.
At the same time, Kostin pointed out to journalists in Lviv that the ICC could not take action against Moscow in connection with the Russian war of aggression. Therefore, an international special court must be established, he demanded.
US minister: perpetrators will ‘not get away’
US Attorney General Merrick Garland also made a surprise trip to the conference. “We are in Ukraine today to say clearly and with one voice: the perpetrators of these crimes will not go unpunished,” he said. The United States stands with Ukraine’s war crimes investigators. Since the invasion began a year ago, Russia has committed atrocities on the greatest scale of any conflict since World War II.
The ICC, based in The Hague, is the highest international court and has been prosecuting particularly serious offenses such as war crimes since 2002. He had launched investigations into alleged war crimes shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since Russia does not recognize the ICC, the court can investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. But he cannot take action against Moscow for the crime of aggression. The government in Kiev is therefore pushing for an international special tribunal to hold Russia accountable.