The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to work on expanding the international coalition to establish a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and bring the military and political leadership of the russian federation to justice.
On Monday, February 27, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for support for a Special Tribunal, while opening a special ministerial event on the sidelines of the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council “Aggression against Ukraine: Impact on human rights and humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the world”.
A total of 55 countries participated in the event, including at the level of foreign ministers: Belgium, Denmark, Costa Rica, France, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
The geography of the participants demonstrates that accountability for russia’s crimes is a priority for the global coalition of states, including the countries of the Global South.
“We do not stop working on the establishment of a Special Tribunal to bring to justice the political and military leadership of russia and their accomplices for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. All russian atrocities stem from it. We need to eliminate the causes, not just the symptoms,” the Minister said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister also drew attention to the numerous violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the russians, including the abduction of Ukrainian children and their forced adoption into russian families.
“russia is implementing perhaps the largest child abduction operation in modern history. The Genocide Convention clearly defines this as a crime of genocide. These children need immediate protection and return home. All russian criminals involved in this operation must be brought to justice for their participation in genocide,” the Minister emphasized.
Dmytro Kuleba also called on the member states of the UN Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the UN International Independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate violations in Ukraine.
“The UN International Independent Commission documents evidence of large-scale and systemic human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by russia, which will be used in future international trials. The extension of the mandate will be a significant contribution to ensuring justice,” he emphasized.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister expressed his gratitude to the UN and other international organizations and their donors for helping Ukrainians during russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine.
On January 26, representatives of 21 states gathered in Prague for the inaugural meeting of the Coalition for the Establishment of a Special Tribunal, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to develop parameters for bringing the political and military leadership of the russian federation to justice for the crime of aggression against our country.
On February 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine gathered 45 states for a high-level UN event dedicated to human rights violations during the russian aggression, with one of the key topics being the establishment of a Special Tribunal.
Following the talks held by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in New York, Guatemala became the first Latin American country to join the Coalition for the Establishment of a Special Tribunal.