The ICC prosecutor has launched investigation in Ukraine

As British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stated “an investigation by the International Criminal Court into Russia’s barbaric acts is urgently needed and it is right that those responsible are held to account.”

Balkees Jarrah, interim international justice director at Human Rights Watch, also commented:

“The request for an ICC investigation reflects the growing alarm among countries about the escalating atrocities and human rights crisis that has gripped Ukraine. These governments are making clear that serious crimes will not be tolerated and that the court has an essential role to play in ensuring justice.”

According to the State Emergency Service in Ukraine, more than 2.000 civilians lost their lives since the conflict began, with Russian military using cluster bombs also on schools and hospitals.

To qualify as crimes against humanity, the hostilities have to be “a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population”, as stated in The Roma Statute. Cluster bombs can be included here due to the fact that using this kind of ammunition cannot discriminate between military and civilian targets.

But with the conflict escalating in Ukraine, investigators will not be able to go in the area and gather evidence, so most of the probes will be collected from satellite and social media for now. Moreover, the evidence resulting from the 2014 investigation in Crimea will also be included in the ICC investigation.

With the official investigation on the run, prosecutor Karim Khan commented:

“With an active investigation now underway, I repeat my call to all those engaged in hostilities in Ukraine to adhere strictly to the applicable rules of international humanitarian law. No individual in the Ukraine situation has a license to commit crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.”

However, the ICC can send suspects to The Hague to be trialled, but cannot arrest them, so the organisation relies on international cooperation in order to bring the guilty to justice.

The International Criminal Court was established in 2002 and over the last 20 years it has filed war related criminal charges against several military and government leaders across the world.

 

source: apnews.com