Kostin identified four main areas for bringing Russia to justice for crimes against prisoners
Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin presented four legal avenues that prosecutors use at the national and international levels to hold Russia accountable for war crimes committed against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages.
He stated this during his online speech at a panel discussion of the Council of Europe, where tools of further influence on the Russian Federation for the release of Ukrainian prisoners were discussed, reports the correspondent of Ukrinform.
“First of all, this is an effective, strong and reliable investigation of these cases by us, the Ukrainian authorities. We have made progress in identifying 347 suspects, charged 258 people and convicted 97 people in cases of torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.” Kostin said.
According to him, this is only a small part of the problem, because justice cannot get access to thousands of other cases that take place in the temporarily occupied territories or about people who are in Russian captivity. It could take decades to fully investigate all of these incidents.
“The second dimension concerns the efforts made by international courts. Although international judicial tribunals do not have jurisdiction to hear cases related to torture, abuse and deaths of Ukrainian prisoners, we actively cooperate with the International Criminal Court, which has already issued six arrest warrants of the leadership of Russia on suspicion of crimes against humanity” – he noted.
In his opinion, the International Criminal Court can become a key tool for bringing the main culprits to justice.
Documentation and monitoring, which are carried out by both Ukrainian and international organizations, also play an important role for future legal proceedings.
“Ukraine has repeatedly documented violations by Russia against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians, in particular the last time – at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council, as well as thanks to the efforts of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture”, – noted Kostin.
The fact-finding and monitoring activities of international organizations contribute to the international response, and their findings are also fed into national investigations.
“The third important aspect is horizontal cooperation with third countries through the Joint Investigative Group, as well as at the bilateral level. More than 20 states share the burden of investigating international crimes committed in Ukraine. We already have successful cases in the United States and Sweden, which concern , in particular, ill-treatment in places of deprivation of liberty by the Russian armed forces”, – said the Prosecutor General.
The fourth important aspect, according to him, is the effective implementation and application of the sanctions regime as a tool to prevent future cases of torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.
As informs Ukrinform, the cases of torture of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers captured by the Russian Federation were discussed in Strasbourg during the autumn session of PACE.
At the panel discussion, human rights defenders, deputies and officials considered additional international mechanisms that can be used to increase pressure on Russia and release tens of thousands of Ukrainian prisoners.
