24/10/2024 President
Addressing the 3rd Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform in Riga today, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos highlighted the Assembly’s range of proposals since April 2022 calling for the establishment of “a comprehensive system of justice for the crimes committed by Russia in and against Ukraine”.
He evoked the now operational international Register of Damage as an especially critical centrepiece of a comprehensive system of accountability for violations of international law resulting from the aggression and urged to complement it with the other vital elements needed for a comprehensive system of accountability and reparation to address the war crimes and wrongdoing committed by Russia, most importantly the ad hoc tribunal for the crime of aggression.
“Another early proposal of PACE is now in a crucial phase, namely the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression, to hold to account the leadership of the Russian Federation for the ‘crime of crimes’: to start a war, which brings unspeakable suffering to soldiers and civilians alike on both sides,” the PACE President said.
He called on the “core group” of 42 countries and organisations working on setting up such a tribunal to quickly agree on a compromise solution regarding the legal form and statute of the tribunal. “Our Assembly is keeping up pressure on this,” he stressed.
“I am certain that if we all stand united with Ukraine, […] we will ensure that the rule of law prevails over the rule of force,” the PACE President concluded.
During his visit to Latvia, Mr Rousopoulos held high-level bilateral meetings with the Speaker of the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine, the President of the Portuguese Assembly, the Speaker of the Cypriot Parliament, the Speaker of the Latvian Parliament and the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also met with students of International Relations/European Studies and Multimedia Communication at the Riga Stradins University.
