PACE recognises deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has recognised the deportation and forcible transfers of Ukrainian children to the territory of the Russian Federation as genocide.

Source: European Pravda, referring to a corresponding resolution adopted at the plenary session on Thursday

Details: The resolution titled "Deportations and forcible transfers of Ukrainian children and other civilians to Russian Federation or to Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied: create conditions for their safe return, stop these crimes and punish the perpetrators" was adopted in Strasbourg.

"The Assembly underscores that the forcible transfer of children from one group to another group, with the intention to destroy, totally or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group is considered as a crime of genocide under Article 2 paragraph (e) of the 1948 Genocide Convention, which matches with the documented evidence of deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation or territories temporarily under Russian occupation," the resolution states.

The document reports that the illegal deportation of Ukrainians to the Russian Federation from the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts started before the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, when children from orphanages and disabled children were deported.

The PACE called upon the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider the possibility of criminal responsibility for this crime.

"The Assembly also supports the need for thorough recording, gathering and assessment of evidence of the crime of genocide as provided by both the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention. The Assembly supports the investigation and prosecution of the State policy of forcible transfers and deportation of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation, and Ukraine’s potential actions before the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice," the document states.

Background: The Senate of France, the upper chamber of the French Parliament, called upon the institutions and member states of the EU to collect evidence of the forcible displacement of the Ukrainian children to Russia and impose sanctions against the Russian officials, responsible for these crimes.

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