Ukrainian human rights defenders in New York speak about Russian war crimes in Ukraine

Ukrainian human rights organizations took part in the event “Victims centered justice in Ukraine situation: effective ways to address crimes against civilian population” within the framework of the 22nd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York on December 13. 

The event was held with the assistance of the Permanent Missions of Sweden and Ukraine to the UN. Human Rights Center ZMINA, Media Initiative for Human Rights, Truth Hounds and Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, International Renaissance Foundation and Center for Civil Liberties presented their vision of what justice should be, centered on a person affected by Russian crimes. 

Olha Reshetylova, coordinator of Media Initiative for Human Rights, presented a map of places where civilian hostages are held in the territory of the Russian Federation and emphasized that at least 1,300 civilians were currently known to have been abducted and being held illegally in Russian prisons and facilities not adapted for this purpose. Moreover, in most cases, civilians are held together with prisoners of war. 

ZMINA human rights advisor Natalia Okhotnikova emphasized that the Russians used a systematic and coordinated policy of enforced disappearances and torture of active citizens (volunteers, representatives of local self-government bodies, activists, teachers, journalists) to suppress the pro-Ukrainian movement in the occupied territories. 

” Russian military and the representatives of the so-called ‘DPR’ and ‘LPR’ often torture people with electric shocks, strangulation or pouring water down the throat of a tied civilian, beating with various objects and using improvised means. ZMINA recorded at least two cases of forced intravenous administration of unknown substances. Women in detention facilities are under constant threat of sexualized violence (electric shocks applied to breasts, forced to change clothes in the presence of male guards, intimidated with the use of sexual violence against them or their family members), ” Okhotnikova said. 

Olha Reshetylova and Natalia Okhotnikova

According to her, the Russian military also often uses mock executions or forces civilians to watch their loved ones or cellmates being tortured. The human rights activist added that currently there were at least two cases where civilian men from the Kherson region had been abducted and tortured and they soon died in custody. 

” To cover up these crimes, the Russians took away their bodies, and the families are still searching for a grave to pay their last respects to their husbands and sons. This causes additional pain and suffering. The scale and systematicity of such crimes committed by the Russians, as well as the signs that these crimes are part of a joint plan and coordinated policy of the Russians to destroy the Ukrainian population, give grounds to assert that these actions are crimes against humanity, and the International Criminal Court should make a proper legal assessment of this ,” Okhotnikova believes. 

She urged those present to remember that each and every victim is not a number but people who must make sure that Russian crimes are punished and stopped. Okhotnikova also asked representatives of embassies and missions to continue talking about Russian crimes at all possible platforms and events. 

Truth Hounds legal director Dmytro Koval spoke about how Rosatom had turned the Zaporizhzhia NPP into a torture chamber and reported that the Russian military used brutal torture against plant staff: beatings, application of electric shocks using TA-57 Soviet army phone and megohmmeter, strangulation, mock execution, forcing people to dig graves for themselves, rape threats against staff or members of their families. 

” All these crimes are combined with the detention of civilians in unsuitable premises without ventilation and access to water ,” Koval added. 

Volodymyr Yavorskyi , an expert at the Center for Civil Liberties, noted that their organization had collected data on at least 4,000 civilians abducted and held in the occupied territories and the Russian Federation. According to him, the majority of such civilians are detained without any documents, without means of communication and the ability to contact their relatives and inform them of their whereabouts. “Russia had a medieval thinking – along with effective control over the territory, it imposes Russian passports on Ukrainian citizens which is a violation of the norms of international humanitarian law”, he pointed out. 

Arie Mora, a representative of Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, noted that the state had problems on the way to justice, namely: significant gaps in Ukrainian legislation which do not provide an opportunity to investigate crimes against humanity and bring the perpetrators to justice. 

” It is almost impossible to bring to justice not only actual executors but also their commander who gave a criminal order or developed a policy of torture or other serious crimes against civilians. Non-ratification of the Rome Statute significantly limits the possibilities of holding all guilty persons to account. This takes us away from the goal of justice. Ukraine makes a lot of efforts to investigate but the law enforcement system was unprepared for such a number of crimes and the amount of information that should be documented and investigated ,” the expert said. 

As a reminder, the 22nd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) began at the UN headquarters in New York on December 4, 2023, at which they, together with observer states, invited states, international and regional organizations and representatives of civil society, will discuss the main challenges facing the Rome Statute. 

Also, at the current session, the States Parties will adopt resolutions on issues related to the functioning of the Court and the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), in particular regarding their respective budgets and cooperation. The USA will elect six new ICC judges at the session.