23/05/2024 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A special tribunal, created by agreement between the Council of Europe and Ukraine and supported by an enlarged partial agreement open to non-member States and other international organisations, is now “the best feasible option, in terms of legal basis and political legitimacy” for trying Russia’s political and military leadership for the crime of aggression, according to the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee.
Approving a draft resolution and recommendation based on a report by Davor Ivo Stier (Croatia, EPP/CD), the committee underlined again that the crime of aggression was “the supreme international crime” which had enabled all the other crimes committed during the war, adding “there cannot be peace without accountability”.
By creating such a tribunal, the Council of Europe would “ensure justice for a crime that was and is still being committed against one of its member States by a former member State” but would also “place itself at the service of the international community as a whole” by defending the international legal order. It should have features which make it “as international as possible” and encourage cross-regional support, maximising its legitimacy and minimising possible legal challenges, the parliamentarians said.
They invited the Core Group to come to an agreement on the model for a special tribunal as soon as possible, to “maintain the momentum” and called on all Council of Europe member states, as well as observer and partner states, the EU and other regional organisations such as the OAS and African Union, to support or participate in the process. They also thanked the Kingdom of the Netherlands for its offer to host the special tribunal on its territory.
Elsewhere in its resolution, the committee pointed to “a growing body of evidence that Russia attempts to commit genocide against the Ukrainians or at least publicly incites to it, as part of the propaganda displayed to justify its war of aggression”.
It also confirmed Russia’s status as “a State sponsor of terrorism” because of the crimes of the Wagner Group, which continues to operate in various forms, and for which the Russian state bears full international responsibility.
With regards to compensation for the damage caused by the aggression, the committee urged member states and any other states to adopt measures allowing for the seizure and repurposing of Russian State assets, with a view to transferring them to an international compensation fund for Ukraine.
The committee reiterated its strongest condemnation of Russia’s aggression, its unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty within its internationally recognised borders – including Crimea – and again denounced the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian forces in the course of the war.