The world needs the widest possible international institution of Russia's accountability for aggression in Ukraine with the highest level of recognition, with the help of which it would be possible to strike a powerful legal blow against particular international criminals. It was stated by Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak at the United for Justice conference in Lviv.
"Justice will save the world. An effective system of international justice, primarily an international tribunal for the aggressor, can protect it from a new global slaughter," the head of the Office of the President said during the International Communities Response for Accountability panel.
He said that today, for thousands of people in Ukraine, their own homes have turned into graves after being hit by Russian missiles. In particular, it happened recently in Zaporizhzhia.
"Terror against the civilian population, hostage-taking, torture, extrajudicial executions, and mass murders are one of the key elements of the Russian strategy. Over the past year, we have recorded over 70,000 war crimes and crimes against humanity. In every de-occupied settlement, we find numerous burials of people with traces of violent death. It is impossible to find out the number of victims now, but the number is already in the tens of thousands," Yermak said.
As the head of the President's Office said, the Russians are methodically destroying the civil infrastructure in Ukraine seeking to create inhuman living conditions for millions of citizens and cause a humanitarian catastrophe. In addition, according to him, Russian troops are purposefully destroying hospitals, schools, and universities on the territory of our country, massively destroying cultural monuments, which is part of their plan.
"There is another part – it is impossible to talk about it without emotions. These are mass rapes. These are mass deportations, and mass abductions of children. This is the mass brainwashing of young Ukrainians forcibly deported to Russia. To date, more than 16,000 cases of forced transfers of Ukrainian children have been recorded. And these are only documented facts. Children are forcibly separated from their parents, taken to infiltration camps, taken to the basements of death camps, and then sent to Russia. As the occupiers hope, forever," he said.
Yermak said that Ukrainian law enforcement officers, together with international partners, are investigating all these crimes, and the International Criminal Court is working to bring those guilty of genocide and war crimes to justice.
"However, we need a system, a comprehensive and all-embracing approach. And I can say with confidence: if you are here, you are definitely on the bright side and well understand how important it is to unite people from all over the world for the sake of common security. And it is impossible without justice," the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine said, addressing the participants of the event.
According to him, the main element of this system should be an international tribunal for those who committed the major crime – the crime of aggression, which is the basis of all other crimes against humanity.
In the near future, the Interim Prosecutor's Office will start working in The Hague, which will deal with the collection of evidence of the crime of aggression. Ukraine is also waiting for the UN General Assembly resolution, which will call for the punishment of Russia for the crime of aggression, Yermak said.
"We must punish those who started this war. Punish substantively and demonstratively. Because this aggressor would not stop on his own. And others would know that there are no rules in the world anymore. Therefore, everything is allowed – up to the extermination of entire states and nations," the head of the President's Office said.
He reminded that Russia not only attacked Ukraine – it deliberately caused an energy crisis in Europe, uses world nuclear blackmail, blackmails the most vulnerable countries with hunger and causes incredible damage to the environment.
At the same time, Yermak said that some states have spoken out in favor of a hybrid tribunal, but Ukraine cannot agree to such a proposal.
"This option is unacceptable for us because we have no guarantees that it will make it possible to remove immunity from the leadership of the terrorist country. And it is the main problem of the hybrid project," he said.
Two other options are the creation of a special tribunal based on an agreement between Ukraine and the UN with the adoption of a corresponding resolution of the General Assembly and the creation of a tribunal based on a multilateral open international agreement between the states of the civilized world. These two ways, as the head of the President's Office emphasized, are acceptable and indicate the readiness of the international community to strike a powerful legal blow against specific international criminals.
"The world needs the widest possible international institution of accountability for aggression with the highest level of legitimacy and recognition. Only in this way we will be able to remove all controversial issues, including the personal and functional immunity of everyone who started this war and is waging it," Yermak said, adding that justice must prevail and save the world.
