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
Resolution 2495
(2023)
| Provisional version
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 27 April 2023 (13th sitting) (see Doc. 15748, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Mr Paolo Pisco; and oral opinion
of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development,
rapporteur: Ms Carmen Leyte). Text adopted
by the Assembly on 27 April 2023 (13th sitting).See
also Recommendation 2253
(2023).
1. The full-scale
war of aggression waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine
represents a massive and ongoing violation of international law
and a tragedy of human suffering. The forced displacements of Ukrainian
civilians, particularly of children from early ages until the age
of 17 years old, to the Russian Federation or within the temporarily
occupied Ukrainian territories, is an especially serious feature
of this aggression. Immediate actions must be sought as a matter
of urgency, backed up by documentation and monitoring of what has
occurred and continues to occur, the establishment of accountability,
and the bringing to justice of all the perpetrators, at all levels
of responsibility.
2. The United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament
and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe have
firmly condemned over recent months and weeks the practice of forcible transfer
and deportation of civilians, in particular children, by the Russian
Federation. While imposing these practices, the Russian Federation
often forces Russian citizenship on them, which also leads to violation
of the children’s right to identity and promotes illegal adoptions
of Ukrainian children by Russian families. Such practices are prohibited
under international humanitarian, human rights and criminal law,
and deserve prosecution as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In the case of forcibly transferred children, the crime of genocide
has reared its head and must be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.
3. The Ukrainian authorities and national and international human
rights organisations are working intensively to document and investigate
the forcible transfer and deportations of civilians, and to find,
support and extricate the victims and reunite them with their families
and home environment. Their efforts are hampered by the extremely
difficult, hostile context and conditions of subterfuge under which
the Russian Federation is applying these practices.
4. The practice of unlawful deportations of Ukrainians to the
Russian Federation from the temporarily occupied territories of
Donetsk and Luhansk regions had started before the Russian Federation’s
full-scale aggression against Ukraine of 24 February 2022, taking
the form of deportation to the Russian Federation of children from
orphanages and of children with disabilities from specialised institutions.
These practices have intensified and evolved further since that
date and are clearly being planned and organised in a systematic
way, within the framework of a State policy. They involve all levels
of political decision making from the top down and implementation
by administrative bodies and State institutions of the Russian Federation,
especially as regards the forcible transfer, deportation and indoctrination
of Ukrainian children.
5. In determining the extent and scale of the forcible transfers
and deportations, precise figures are difficult to establish given
the ongoing aggression, lack of access to the temporarily occupied
territories of Ukraine, and subterfuge on the part of the Russian
Federation as to the circumstances of forcible transfers and deportations and
the current whereabouts of the victims. Nonetheless, various sources
and data demonstrate that very many thousands of Ukrainians are
victims of such practices, and that the human cost and consequences
of these practices, today and for the future, are immense. As of
mid-April 2023, the Ukrainian Government stated that it had collected
reports of over 19 384 children classified as “deported” to the
Russian Federation, of which the authorities have indicated only
361 having since returned home. Therefore, there are still many
thousands of children and other civilians whose fate must be clarified.
6. The Parliamentary Assembly condemns the actions of the Russian
authorities in violation of their obligations under international
humanitarian law, which consist in unjustified delays in the repatriation
of children and obstacles in the reunification of families separated
as a result of this armed conflict. It also condemns the violation
of the rights of deported Ukrainian children to preserve their identity,
defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 8)
of the United Nations, with the practice of forced acceptance of
Russian citizenship and placement of children for upbringing in
the families of citizens of the Russian Federation.
7. Despite the difficulties in establishing definitive data on
numbers involved or on the current fate of the victims, the evidence
indicates various practices which are widely reported by victims
and witnesses and which point to systematic policy by the Russian
Federation. These include:
7.1 due
to the deliberate targeting and destruction of civilian infrastructure,
extreme pressure has been exerted by the Russian military and Russian-affiliated
officials to force Ukrainian civilians to flee hostilities with
only the option of relocation to the Russian Federation or Russian-occupied
territories of Ukraine, or to Belarus;
7.2 “filtration” of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian military
and Russian-affiliated officials, including intrusive body and belongings
searches, aggressive interrogation, and the extraction of vast amounts
of personal and biometric data. In some cases, civilians have been
subjected to torture and ill-treatment; many have been detained
and some have disappeared, according to family members;
7.3 the forcible transfer of children to the Russian Federation
and within temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, to be placed
in foster families or Russian-run orphanages or residential facilities, including
so-called “summer camps”, and the facilitation of adoption of such
children by Russian families. This includes orphans and children
with disabilities, as well as children who have been moved either
with or without their parents, and children whose parents have agreed
to let the occupying authorities transport them for “holidays” in
residential camps from which they have never returned;
7.4 the practice of “re-education” of the children thus removed
from their homes and families, both in residential facilities and
in foster or adoption families. This practice is called “russification”
which implies a prohibition to speak the Ukrainian language or express
in any way their Ukrainian identity and culture, compulsory exposure
to the Russian language and culture through classes, blanket exposure
to the prevailing propaganda through the media, teaching of the
Russian version of history, visits to “patriotic” sites, military
training, denigration of the Ukrainian language, culture and history.
In some cases, children have been (often falsely) informed that
their parents had died, most have no means of knowing where they
are or how to contact their families or obtain any help, and many
suffer from bullying and psychological harassment.
8. The organised and systematic nature of the practices involved,
the similar characteristics of such operations both geographically
(across different temporarily occupied regions), and over time (including
before the full-scale aggression of February 2022), point to the
conclusion that these crimes are not random or unplanned. They indicate
an intention to destroy Ukraine and the Ukrainian identity as well
as the cultural and linguistic characteristics of its people. The
forcible transfers, unlawful deportations and “re-education” of children,
who are especially vulnerable and in need of protection, are abhorrent
in their aim of annihilating every link to and feature of their
Ukrainian identity.
9. The Assembly notes that both the Russian Federation and Ukraine
are signatories to the most relevant humanitarian law treaties that
apply to international armed conflicts: the Convention relative
to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Geneva Convention
IV, 1949) and Additional Protocol I (1977) to the Geneva Convention
concerning the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts.
Other relevant international treaties include the United Nations
Charter, the Council of Europe European Convention on Human Rights
(ETS No. 5), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, the 1948 Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court, the International Convention
for Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the
1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its
additional protocols.
10. 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.
11. The Assembly further recalls its
Resolution 2367 (2021) “The protection of victims of arbitrary displacement”,
its
Resolution 2448 (2022) “Humanitarian consequences and internal and external displacement
in connection with the aggression of the Russian Federation against
Ukraine” and its
Resolution 2482
(2023) “Legal and human rights aspects of the Russian Federation’s
aggression against Ukraine”, which refers
inter
alia to the Genocide Convention as regards the forcible
transfer of children.
12. The Assembly welcomes the International Criminal Court’s decision
of 17 March 2023 to issue arrest warrants against the President
of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian Commissioner
for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the war crimes of
unlawful deportation and transfer of populations, in particular
children, from temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian
Federation.
13. The Assembly supports the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe in calling for a role to be played by this Organisation
in determining accountability and securing justice for the Russian
Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, including the establishment
in cooperation with Ukraine, of an international register of damage to
serve as a record, in documentary form, of evidence and claims of
damage, loss or injury to all natural and legal persons concerned,
as well as the State of Ukraine, caused by internationally wrongful
acts of the Russian Federation in or against Ukraine, as well as
to promote and co-ordinate evidence-gathering.
14. 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.
15. The Assembly further supports the recommendations put forward
in March 2023 by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council
of Europe, calling for the establishment of concrete mechanisms
and solutions to reunite the children with their families, including
through the identification and registration of unaccompanied and
separated children from Ukraine and the facilitation of family tracing
and reunification procedures.
16. In the light of all the above, the Assembly calls for immediate
and urgent action to be taken to halt the practices of unlawful
forcible transfer and deportation currently being carried out by
the Russian Federation against the Ukrainian population, and especially
its policy and practices relating to the removal of children from their
families and homes and their subsequent absorption into Russian
citizenship, identity and culture. The Assembly highlights the need
for the recording and monitoring of individual cases, both in order
to permit mechanisms for rapid redress, and to collect evidence
of accountability in order to bring the perpetrators, at all levels
of responsibility, to justice.
17. The Assembly calls upon the Russian Federation to:
17.1 as concerns the particularly
urgent situation of Ukrainian children in the hands of the Russian Federation,
immediately and unconditionally cease unlawful forcible transfer
and deportation of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation,
Belarus or within temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, halt
any adoption procedures underway, stop the imposition of Russian
citizenship, re-establish the children’s links with their parents
or carers, and repatriate them to their homeland or release them
to a safe third country;
17.2 provide representatives and staff of relevant United Nations
bodies and other international human rights and humanitarian mechanisms
and organisations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross,
with unhindered, immediate and safe access, provide reliable and
comprehensive information about the number and the whereabouts of
Ukrainian children, and to ensure their dignified treatment and their
safe return;
17.3 fully co-operate with the Committee on the Rights of the
Child of the United Nations in the establishment of facts on the
basis of the submission submitted to the latter by Human Rights
Watch in November 2022 on the review of Russia’s compliance with
the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
17.4 halt all practices linked to the process of “filtration”,
unlawful deportation, and forcible transfers of civilians and other
protected persons from Ukrainian territories and to release all
those that are still in “filtration” points; to ensure that evacuation
of civilians from danger zones is on the basis of their full knowledge
and consent and with the option of relocating within Ukraine or
to safe destinations of their choice.
18. The Assembly calls on the international community to firmly
and consistently denounce and to take every measure possible to
prevent the continuation of these crimes, to support the Ukrainian
authorities and others in the diligent collection of evidence and
proofs, and to ensure that the perpetrators at all levels are identified and
brought to justice. It also calls on:
18.1 the States Parties to the Rome Statute, to take every
possible action to fulfil their obligations to enforce the arrest
warrants already issued by the International Criminal Court, and
to support the prosecution and bringing to justice of all other
responsible persons. In particular, named individuals for whom direct
responsibility has been alleged by international human rights organisations
include the Russian Federation’s Prime Minister, ministers of education
and health, the Commissioner for Human Rights and the first deputy
chief of staff to the Russian President, the self-proclaimed President
of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and, at regional level, the governors
of Krasnodar Krai, Magadan, Kamchatka Krai, the President of Tatarstan,
and the head of the Republic of Adygea;
18.2 the International Criminal Court to examine with all due
seriousness the possible prosecution of the crime of genocide as
regards the State policy of the Russian Federation towards Ukrainian
children currently within its hands and encourages States Parties
to consider bringing prosecutions for all crimes within their national
criminal courts where jurisdiction is possible (in Ukraine or in
third-party courts with universal jurisdiction);
18.3 the authorities of Ukraine, to ensure that Ukrainian nationals
who were forcibly transferred to Russia, including men between the
ages of 18 and 60, suffer no legal consequences for such transfer upon
returning to Ukraine;
18.4 the international community, to strengthen co-operation
with the European Union in order to stop the crimes of forcible
transfer and deportations of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian
Federation, to create conditions for the Ukrainian children’s safe
return or settlement in a safe third country in Europe, to prevent
the adoption of Ukrainian children with an illegal alleged Russian
citizenship by citizens of Council of Europe member States, and
to punish the perpetrators, as underscored in the Council of the European
Union and the European Commission statements at the European Parliament
on 19 April 2023.
19. The Assembly calls upon the Council of Europe member States
to:
19.1 give all possible political
and financial support to the Council of Europe mechanisms and measures
put in place to support its member State Ukraine at the present
time, including the Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery
and Reconstruction” (2023-2026) and the Expert Advisory Group to the
Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine;
19.2 support Ukraine in its efforts to document and monitor
the situation of Ukrainian citizens, and especially children, who
have been forcibly displaced or deported by the Russian Federation,
and to lend their political, logistical and financial support to
the development of an effective and rapid mechanism to identify,
locate and repatriate victims to Ukraine or to a safe third country;
19.3 in this endeavour, provide support and assistance in strengthening
co-ordination between all the relevant national bodies and institutions
in Ukraine and to the work of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner
for Human Rights;
19.4 support the Ukrainian authorities in the development of
a rapid mechanism to identify, locate and repatriate victims to
Ukraine or to a safe third country, including by strengthening the
“Children of war” platform and by promoting the Reunite Ukraine
App, and to provide returning children with the necessary support,
in particular emergency and continuing psychological support;
19.5 ensure that the Temporary Protection Directive by European
Union member States and other temporary protection measures are
effectively applied to all Ukrainians who are seeking entry at the European
Union borders from the Russian Federation, with or without valid
or undamaged travel documents;
19.6 support and facilitate the work of civil society organisations
active in protecting the rights of Ukrainian citizens, displaced
persons and refugees.
19.7 strengthen the work of strategic communications units
and the independent media that contribute to debunking Russian disinformation
campaigns, as disseminating the facts about Russia’s crimes is essential
to assisting the victims and restoring justice.
20. Underpinning all the above, and over and beyond the immediate
measures which must be taken to protect Ukrainian civilians and
children today, the Assembly stresses once more that the perpetrators
of crimes under international law, including the crime of aggression
against another country, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
genocide, must be identified and brought to justice. On the eve
of the Council of Europe Reykjavik Summit, it calls upon member
States, and upon the international community as a whole, to proclaim and
reassert their commitment to this objective, to rapidly establish
the mechanisms and processes which are needed to reach this end,
and to remain steadfast in their common endeavours to ensure that
justice is served.
