Tuesday

26th Sep 2023

Ukraine files cases against 45 suspected war criminals

  • There are at least 20 ongoing international investigations into alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine (Photo: Ukraine foreign ministry)
Listen to article

Ukraine has filed court papers against 45 suspected war criminals, of whom 10 have been already convicted for crimes committed since the Russian invasion in late February, according to Ukraine's prosecutor general Andriy Kostin.

"We all understand that crimes committed by Russia in Ukrainian territory are not only against Ukrainian people. These crimes are against the civilised world," he told a press conference in The Hague on Thursday (13 October).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Kostin also said they have also notified another 186 war-crime suspects in absentia. "We can't just stop the case because we don't know where they are."

The comments came as the EU's judicial agency, Eurojust, announced an expansion of the investigation team they coordinate to shed light on alleged international crimes committed in Ukraine.

The team of prosecutors, established within a week after Russia invaded Ukraine, include Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Ukraine, and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On Thursday, Romania also joined the group.

"We think that taking part in this joint endeavour, in order to combat and to take perpetrators in front of a court when it comes to international crimes, is our duty as a prosecutor and as neighbours of Ukraine," said Romanian prosecutor general Gabriela Scutea.

On top of the joint investigation team, 14 EU member states have launched their own national inquiries into alleged international crimes committed in Ukraine.

However, according to Eurojust president Ladislav Hamran, there are 20 ongoing international investigations — which call for coordination in order to avoid conflict of jurisdictions, unnecessary competition and overlapping efforts.

"This armed conflict will be or already is the best-documented armed conflict in the history of mankind," he said, adding that current national and international efforts in documenting core international crimes in Ukraine should set an example for present and future armed conflicts.

For its part, the ICC has deployed its largest team ever to work in Ukraine — a group of 51 experts, including forensic specialists from the Netherlands.

"In three weeks' time, we will have an even larger deployment, additional people in the field," said ICC prosecutor, Karim A. A. Khan.

Khan also noted that Kyiv could extradite Russian war crimes suspects to the ICC if trials could not take place in Ukraine for a valid reason — despite Russia not being a member of the ICC.

"Legally yes it wouldn't represent an obstacle to our jurisdiction," Khan told reporters.

When asked when the ICC will file its own first charges, he said he would wait until the "evidence is sufficient."

"The credibility of this process requires me as the prosecutor of the ICC and my office, to have the detachment objectivity and thoroughness that is required to build a case that will be challenged and has to satisfy the burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt," he said.

Opinion

How to apply the Nuremberg model for Russian war crimes

A Special Tribunal on Russian war crimes in Ukraine must be convened, because no permanent or existing international judicial institution is endowed with jurisdiction over Russian high-ranking officials, writes the head of the Ukraine delegation to the Council of Europe.

Rights group documents forcible-transfer war crimes in Ukraine

A new Human Rights Watch report documents how Russia has forcibly transferred Ukrainian citizens from their homes to Russia and Russian-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, a war crime in breach of international law, in a so-called "filtration" process.

Opinion

More EU teams needed to prosecute Ukraine war crimes

A Joint Investigation Team combines prosecutors, police and judges from different countries who come together under the coordination of Eurojust to synchronise cross-border investigations — with a track record of achieving results: from the Bataclan attacks to the MH17 investigation.

EU farm chief backs extending Ukraine grain ban and subsidies

EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski has backed extending the temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports in five frontline countries until the end of 2023 — and proposed providing subsidies for Ukrainian grain exporters.

Latest News

  1. Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?
  2. IEA says: Go green now, save €11 trillion later
  3. The failure of the Just Energy Transition Fund in South Africa
  4. EU and G7 tankers facilitating Russian oil exports, report finds
  5. EU trade chief in Beijing warns China of only 'two paths' forward
  6. Why should taxpayers pay for private fishing fleets in third countries?
  7. Women at risk from shoddy EU laws on domestic workers
  8. EU poised to agree on weakened emission rules

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us