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The decision of the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate the crimes of the Russian Federation against Ukraine suggests that Russia cannot be a mediator to resolve the situation in Donbass, says Serhiy Garmash, Ukraine’s representative at the TCG.
The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to initiate an investigation into the crimes of the Russian Federation against Ukraine will affect diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
This opinion was expressed by the representative of Ukraine in the trilateral contact group on the resolution of the situation in Donbass, the journalist Serhiy Garmash on December 13 on the air of the television channel Ukraine 24.
“For me, the initiation of this investigation is a very positive step in the sense that during the Minsk talks Russia has always positioned itself as a mediator. And now, when the case is considered in the International Court of Justice, it will be possible to say that it cannot mediate on the issue that Ukraine is suing for international aggression. It seems to me that this will seriously change even the diplomatic background not only in the Minsk negotiations, but in general the diplomatic background in relations between Ukraine and Russia, ”he said.
According to the journalist, the government of Ukraine “did a lot to confuse the situation of aggression with Russia.”
“Our leadership in 2014 went to a direct violation of the legislation on the defense of Ukraine, martial law was not introduced, as required by law. And today we do not have a de jure war with Russia, which greatly complicates our relations with international organizations, even with the UN, where we talk about aggression, but in reality they did not ask for recognition of this aggression, ”Garmash explained.
In the spring of 2014, after an illegal referendum, Russia occupied Crimea and started an armed aggression in eastern Ukraine. The fighting is between the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the one hand, and the Russian army and the Russian-backed militants who control parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions on the other. The Russian Federation does not officially recognize its invasion of Ukraine, despite the facts and evidence presented by Ukraine.
The ICC launched a preliminary study of the situation in Ukraine in April 2014.
In 2016, the preliminary report of the Office of the International Criminal Court on the case of the situation in Ukraine was published. The document states that “the situation on the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.” After the report was published, the Russian Federation announced its desire to withdraw from the Rome Statute.
Early December 2020 Deputy Attorney General of Ukraine Gunduz Mammadov said that overall, Ukraine sent 14 appeals to the ICC on war crimes and crimes against humanity in Donbass and Crimea. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, since the beginning of the armed conflict in the east of the country, more than 20 thousand criminal offenses have been registered, over which more than 5 thousand processes have been opened.
On December 11, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda stated that the court has reason to investigate the case regarding the situation in Ukraine. According to the prosecutor, the court concluded that a wide range of actions constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity “were committed in the context of the situation in Ukraine.” These are three types of offenses: committed in the context of the conduct of hostilities; committed during detention; committed in the Crimea.
The International Criminal Court is governed by the Rome Statute, which was adopted in 1998 and entered into force in 2002. The court, based in The Hague, deals with crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. In this case, the jurisdiction of the court extends only to those states that have ratified the Rome Statute.
Ukraine has not ratified the Rome Statute; however, in 2015 Ukraine notified the ICC that it recognized its jurisdiction over crimes against humanity and war crimes committed since the beginning of the Russian aggression.
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