The International Criminal Court (ICC) is opening an investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Ukraine since November 21, 2013. Thirty-nine states have seized the Attorney General, thus speeding up the proceedings.
With our correspondent in The Hague, Stephanie Maupas
“ Our work of collecting evidence can begin declared the Attorney General, the Briton Karim Khan, in a statement released on Wednesday evening March 2. Thirty-nine states responded to his appeal, launched earlier this week. This is a first for the Court! This referral allows the prosecutor to speed up the procedure, without asking the judges for the green light at this stage.
Additional Resources
These states include those of the European Union, including France, plus Georgia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and for Latin America, Costa Rica and Colombia. Karim Khan is now asking for their cooperation; it is mandatory, but above all requires additional resources to be able to carry out this survey. It will focus on all the crimes committed by the two parties to the conflict since the first Maidan demonstrations in Kyiv in the fall of 2013.
Two years later, the new Ukrainian authorities seized the prosecutor, giving him legal jurisdiction over this case. However, Kiev never joined the Court’s treaty, nor did Russia. Moscow had affixed its signature to the founding treaty, but had never ratified. The Russians therefore have no obligation to cooperate.
Investigation ” objective and independent »
Mr. Khan, who was recently appointed prosecutor, AFP reported, assured that his investigation would be carried out “ objectively and independently and that it would aim to ensure accountability for crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC “. Created in 2002, the ICC, headquartered in The Hague, was invested as an independent international tribunal to try individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.