Tuesday, 29 November ‘22

Kherson Documentation

Ukrainian police have documented almost 600 war crimes committed by the Russians in the Kherson region, police chief Igor Klymenko stated on November 26.

Alongside 850 police officers deployed to the territory, “there are also specialised investigative and operational groups that document war crimes committed by Russian servicemen and their accomplices. Currently, 578 such cases have been recorded in the Kherson region,” he said.

Prosecutor general Andriy Kostin announced that at least nine torture chambers had been discovered in the region and the bodies of more than 400 civilians had been found.

Fake Surrender in Captivity in Makiivka Will be Investigation

The prosecutor’s office opened proceedings into alleged Russian “perfidy” over an incident in the village of Makiivka, Lugansk region in which Ukrainian soldiers were accused of carrying out summary executions.

A video circulated on social media appeared to show a dozen Russian soldiers surrendering before being told to lie face down. One of them seems to turn his gun on the Ukrainian soldiers.

No shooting is shown in the video but the Kremlin alleged that the Russian soldiers were killed. The UN said that the incident should be investigated.

According to the Article 37 “Prohibition of perfidy” of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1), it is prohibited to kill, injure or capture an adversary by resort to perfidy.

Legal Instruments for Russian Compensation

Deputy minister of justice Iryna Mudra announced that international instruments for collecting compensation from Russia were in the process of development.

Existing institutions, for instance the International Criminal Court and the European Court on Human Rights, would not guarantee effective delivery of reparations including financial payments, she said.

“Ukraine has been working on the creation of unique international instruments, specifically the International Compensation Mechanism and the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine,” Mudra said.

She also announced that Ukraine sought to adopt a specific law to regulate the issue of jurisdictional immunities of foreign states and their property.

Prosecutor’s Office Abroad

A prosecutor's office will soon be opened in a European city, Ukrainian prosecutor general Andrii Kostin stated at a meeting of the working group on the creation of a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

“We are initiating the creation of the Interim Prosecutor's Office to develop a strategy for criminal prosecution and unification of evidence regarding the crime of aggression against Ukraine. It can work in one of the European cities with the support of our partners,” he said.

The prosecutor general added that on December 1, for the first time, consultations will be held between all countries that have opened criminal proceedings regarding the crime of Russian aggression on the basis of universal jurisdiction in order to coordinate and unify their efforts.

G7 justice ministers will also meet and discuss the investigation of war crimes in Ukraine.