Side event at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference 2025: denying a fair trial as an atrocity crime during Russia’s war against Ukraine

The side event “Denying a Fair Trial as an Atrocity Crime during Russia’s War against Ukraine” takes place on Friday, 10 October 2025, at 14:30-15:30 in the Krolewski room on the margins of the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. It is organized by the Human Rights Centre ZMINA and Media Initiative for Human Rights with the support of the Czech Delegation to the OSCE, Human Rights House Foundation, and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee.

In the context of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, the denial of a fair trial has emerged as a deliberate tool of oppression. Ukrainian civilians and POWs in both occupied territories and the Russian Federation face systemic violations of their most basic legal rights, turning courts into instruments of persecution. Hundreds of people have been targeted under this policy – the actual number of victims, according to ZMINA and MIHR, can reach 5-6 thousand people.

These “courts” ignore the context of the international armed conflict, are based on political or discriminatory motives, do not guarantee fair justice, and bear the hallmarks of international crimes. At the same time, state-controlled media operate as an extension of this policy, reinforcing and legitimizing judicial repression.

The side event will present unique thematic research based on the monitoring and analysis of hundreds of court sessions across several criminal cases. This research exposes the scale of the practice, its mechanisms, its impact, and potential avenues for accountability.

The following issues will be addressed:

• The denial of the right to a fair trial and an overview of the cases, procedural violations and sentences;
• Prospects for investigating and prosecuting such denial as a grave breach of international law.

Speakers: 

• Ms. Viktoria Nesterenko, Project Manager at Human Rights Centre ZMINA
• Ms. Lyubov Smachylo, Head of the Analytical Department at the Media Initiative for Human Rights
• Mr. Sergiu Ostaf, Director of the Resource Centre for Human Rights
• Mr. Oleg Gushchyn, Representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War
• Mr. Maksym Butkevych, human rights advocate, journalist, Co-Founder of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, and former POW who was wrongfully convicted and spent over two years in Russian captivity
• Ms. Marharyta Shabanova, wife of detained OSCE official Dmytro Shabanov 

Moderator: Mr. Frantisek Med, Deputy Head of Mission of the Czech Republic to the OSCE

Contact: Tetiana Zhukova, Human Rights Centre ZMINA, tz@zmina.ua