The Ukrainian government on Tuesday gave a green light to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate crimes committed on its territory since February 20, 2014, notably in the east of the country where some 8,000 people have been killed in a conflict between pro-Russian rebels and government forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine accepts the jurisdiction of the Court for the purpose of identifying, prosecuting and judging the authors and accomplices of acts committed in the territory of Ukraine since 20 February 2014,\u201d says a letter from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkine to the ICC.<\/p>\n
Ukraine is not an ICC member state, but it can accept the Court\u2019s jurisdiction on a case by case basis under Article 12 (3) of the Rome Statute, the ICC\u2019s founding treaty. Kiev has already given the ICC limited jurisdiction under a previous such declaration, and the ICC Prosecutor is currently conducting a preliminary examination into events in the country between November 21, 2013 and February 22, 2014. This latest move now expands the jurisdiction to crimes committed in the east, including possibly the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in which 298 people -- mainly Dutch -- died in July last year.<\/p>\n
\"What it means is that the prosecutor will now be able to probe crimes after February 22 last year, with an open-ended time frame,\" ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah told AFP.<\/p>\n
But the ICC says this is not automatic. \u201cIt is for the ICC Prosecutor to decide whether or not to request the judges' authorisation to open an investigation,\u201d it said in a press release.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian government\u2019s letter is based on a February 4, 2015 declaration by the country\u2019s parliament (Verkhovna Rada). That declaration says the parliament recognizes the jurisdiction of the ICC \u201cfor the purpose of bringing senior officials of the Russian Federation and leaders of terrorist organizations DNR (Donetsk People\u2019s Republic) and LNR (Luhansk People\u2019s Republic)\u201d to justice for \u201cwar crimes and crimes against humanity\u201d.<\/p>\n
A UN report also issued on Tuesday says that \u201csince the conflict began in eastern Ukraine in mid-April 2014, a total of at least 7,962 people \u2013 including Ukrainian armed forces, civilians and members of the armed groups \u2013 have been killed, and at least 17,811 injured\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cCases of killings, abductions, torture and ill-treatment, sexual violence, forced labour, ransom demands and extortion in the territories controlled by the self-proclaimed \u2018Donetsk people\u2019s republic\u2019 and \u2018Luhansk people\u2019s republic\u2019\u201d have been documented, it says.<\/p>\n
But the report says Ukrainian security forces are also to blame for abuses. It notes a \u201cpersistent pattern of arbitrary and incommunicado detention by the Ukrainian law enforcement, mainly by the Security Service of Ukraine, and by military and paramilitary units.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine\u2019s decision to expand its acceptance of ICC jurisdiction is a clear signal of its commitment to accountability for grave crimes and an important step towards ending impunity,\u201d said Kirsten Meersschaert of the Coalition for the ICC (CICC, international network of NGOs), but she also urged Ukraine to follow up with \u201cconcrete steps towards ratification of the Rome Statute to ensure Ukraine becomes a fully\u2010fledged ICC member state\u201d.<\/p>\n
\"Ukraine has taken a crucial step towards ending violence and armed conflict in the east of the country. Victims now have an opportunity to access justice for heinous crimes they have suffered,\u201d said Roman Romanov, director of the International Renaissance Foundation, Ukraine, as quoted by the CICC. \u201cThis move sends an important message to both Ukrainian society and to the international community that Ukraine rejects impunity for grave crimes. The next step is for national investigations to be stepped up and for Ukraine\u2019s full cooperation with the ICC. Peace comes not when the guns are silent, but when justice is done.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ukrainian government on Tuesday gave a green light to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate crimes committed on its territory since February 20, 2014, notably in the east of the country where some 8,000 people have been killed in a conflict between pro-Russian rebels and government forces. \u201cUkraine accepts the jurisdiction of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":63973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[562,3291],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2429,2533],"class_list":["post-1968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-icc","category-ukraine-by-justice-info","ji_location-russia","ji_location-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n