Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports idea of holding a Nuremberg-like Tribunal for Russian leadership
Monday, 7 March 2022, 16:54
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, has stated that Ukraine supports the initiative to hold an international tribunal for Russia akin to the Nuremberg Trials, for the actions of its army during the war against Ukraine.
Source: This was reported by Evropeyska Pravda
Dmytro Kuleba stated that Russian troops have committed and continue to commit war crimes against civilians, and crimes against humanity– such as indiscriminate artillery shelling, air strikes, and rocket attacks on residential areas of Ukrainian cities; the shelling of nuclear power plants; and the destruction of critical infrastructure.
Quote: "Due to unprovoked aggression and the lack of appropriate international legal mechanisms to bring the Russian Federation and its leadership to justice for such a grave crime against humanity, I support the initiative of the international scientific community to establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian aggression. A coalition of states will take part in its creation. Meanwhile, Ukraine is gathering all evidence related to the crime of aggression against it, and is grateful to its partners for their willingness to support this work."
He noted that there has been a precedent in world history for such an instrument of international justice– the Nuremberg Tribunal, which served to bring to justice the leadership of Nazi Germany. The foundations of the tribunal were laid by 9 states in early 1942.
Quote: "I am grateful to leading experts in international law who drafted the Declaration and Statement calling for the establishment of a special tribunal to punish Russian leadership for its crime of aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine fully supports this initiative and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already begun implementation."
Kuleba noted that it does not replace, but is an addition to existing cases against Russia for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which are being investigated by the International Criminal Court, as well as trials initiated by Ukraine at the UN International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.
