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“We don’t want to wait for the war to end”: International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine launched in the Hague

03/07/2023

The International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) was launched in the Hauge on July 3 signifying the first step to possible tribunal against Moscow’s leadership, Eurojust wrote on Twitter.

As reported by a correspondent of Suspilne, President of Eurojust Ladislav Hamran stated that the next step on this path is the launch of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression, which is a “a truly unique international cooperation platform without any precedent in legal history.”

He said that the ICPA will support national investigators and prosecutors from Ukraine, and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland that are investigating the crime of aggression.

“The key purpose of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression is to secure crucial evidence and facilitate the process of case building at an early stage. We don’t want to wait for the end of the conflict,” said Hamran.

The ICPA will support partners who have launched their own national investigations, according to him. “We will centralize available evidence, analyse the evidence, and also identify possible evidentiary gap with the help of other experts working here, at Eurojust. We will also translate evidence and other relevant documents into both Ukrainian and English to ensure that they can be used before different national jurisdictions, as well as international courts,” said the President of Eurojust.

Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice: “I’m very proud to be here with you today to mark the official launch of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. Today’s launch constitutes a first important step towards ensuring that the perpetrators of the international crimes committed in Ukraine are held accountable.”

Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine informed that a team of four Ukrainian prosecutors was in the Hague and would begin its work at the centre today.

“Justice fosters and ensures peace. There cannot be peace if the arm of justice doesn’t reach all planners, all designers, all inciters and all leaders of the crime against peace that has threatened not only Ukraine’s sovereignty and freedom, but also the stability and functionality of the international security and legal system,” he said.

When talking about the work of the Centre, the prosecutor general noted that it is not about arresting war criminals, but about indictments and cases sent to court. Kostin stressed that all trials are taking place in absentia, because all those people are still in Russia.

“As for the number of war crimes, at the moment there have been over 93,000 crimes registered, and our national law enforcement system is diligently working on investigating them. As for other war crimes, we have 347 individuals, who were notified of suspicion, and we have indictments against 207 individuals that were sent for trial, and we already have 53 individuals who have been convicted for war crimes committed on the Ukrainian land and against Ukrainians,” said Kostin.

Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, stressed that the ICC is independent and impartial and that it stands on the side of justice.

“I’ve said it more than once, you know, we are not on the side of Ukraine. We are on the side of justice. We are independent and impartial. And we must find common grounds with everyone who wants to have the world for our children, for our future with fewer crimes and more justice. And I believe this is an important step in this direction,” he said.

“We are living in a world where the application of the law is imperfect. Instead of criticizing this, we need to play our role to make the law stronger and its application more consistent. That’s what pushed us to join Eurojust last April as a participant, and that’s what made us join the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression today,” added Khan.

Kenneth Polite, U.S. Assistant Attorney General, noted that the U.S. will be represented at the ICPA by Jessica Kim, U.S. Special Prosecutor for the Crime of Aggression. She will be able to assist the Centre by tapping into “the substantial body of expertise and resources that the Department has amassed in response to Russia’s unlawful war of aggression against the people of Ukraine.”

“The U.S. Department of Justice is proud to be supporting our European partners and be among the first to participate in the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression,” said Polite. He reminded that during his first visit to The Hague, the Attorney General pledged that the United States would contribute to Eurojust’s Core International Crimes Evidence Database.

“Last week, the U.S. has made its initial contribution to the database, and it will not be our last. Today, we honour the launch of the Centre. Tomorrow, we roll up our sleeves and get back to work. And together we will pursue justice, no matter how long it takes,” said Polite.

Who is part of the ICPA?

As reported by Deutsche Welle, International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA) includes representatives from Ukraine, the European Union, the United States, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to Eurojust, those representatives are the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin, the Prosecutor of the ICC Karim Khan; the U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite, and the EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.

It is expected that the Centre will conduct investigations and gather evidence, which will serve as an intermediate step before the establishment of a special tribunal against Russia. The EU has stated that the ultimate goal is to hold those responsible for the invasion of Ukraine accountable.

Calls for the creation of a special tribunal for the war in Ukraine have intensified because the International Criminal Court, also located in The Hague, does not have the authority to investigate such crimes. The ICC focuses on more specific war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine.

The Investigative Committee of Russia issued a search warrant on the Prosecutor and ICC judge

The Investigative Committee of Russia has announced an indictment and placed an international search warrant on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan, and the ICC judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala, who had issued arrest warrants on the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the children’s rights ombudsman Maria Lvova-Bilova, due to the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, as reported on the Telegram channel of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

“The Investigative Committee of Russia continues to investigate a criminal case against the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Khan Karim Asad Ahmad, and judges of the International Criminal Court Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala, and Gerardo Ugalde (Godinez),” the message reads.

The Russian authorities believe that the criminal prosecution of Putin and Lvova-Bilova is deliberately unlawful, citing the supposed absence of grounds to hold them criminally responsible.

“According to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents of December 14, 1973, heads of state enjoy absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign states,” the message reads.

The Investigative Committee claims to have gathered sufficient evidence, based on which the decision for the indictment in absentia of Prosecutor Karim Khan and Judge Salvatore Rosario was made. Russian law enforcers assert that representatives of the ICC are attempting to hold innocent Russian citizens accountable.

“The actions of the prosecutor have been classified by the investigation as showing elements of criminal offenses under Par. 2 of Article 299, Par. 1 of Article 30, and Par. 2 of Article 360 of the Criminal Code of Russia (“knowingly bringing an innocent person to criminal accountability, combined with unlawfully accusing a person of committing an especially grave crime, as well as preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection with the aim of complicating international relations”), the message reads.

Meanwhile, the actions of the judge have been classified as showing elements of criminal offenses under Par. 2 of Article 301, Par. 1 of Article 30, and Par. 2 of Article 360 of the Criminal Code of Russia (“unlawful issuance of an arrest warrant and preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection with the aim of complicating international relations.

In addition, based on the investigative resolution, both the prosecutor and the judge of the ICC have been placed on the wanted list, added the Russian Investigative Committee.

Previously, on March 20, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the ICC prosecutor and judges, claiming that their actions allegedly had “knowingly unlawful nature”. The Investigative Committee asserts that there are supposedly ‘no grounds for holding the Russian President and the children’s ombudsman criminally accountable.”

What is known about the ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin

On 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, and the Russian children’s rights ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of being involved in illegal deportation and relocation of Ukrainian children.

If they leave the territory of Russia and enter countries that are participants of the ICC and have ratified the Rome Statute, they are to be arrested and brought to court.

Speaker for the Russian Foreign Ministry Zakharova stated that the ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin “would not bear any significance on Russia”, because the country is not a participant of the Rome Statute, and, is not obligated to comply with the ICC’s decisions.

Prosecutor of the ICC Karim Khan emphasized that the arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova has no statute of limitations, meaning it does not lose its validity over time.

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