All mechanisms must be mobilized to bring Russia to justice: human rights activists hold advocacy meetings in The Hague

On December 8, the event “Strengthening International Justice: Challenges and Opportunities in Case of Ukraine” took place in the Netherlands within the framework of the 21st Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Natalia Okhotnikova, researcher of the project on enforced disappearances of activists at Human Rights Centre ZMINA took part in the event together with other experts of Ukraine 5 AM Coalition members. The event was held with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.

Representatives of Ukraine 5 AM Coalition

The participants focused in their reports on Ukraine’s fight which is taking place on several fronts at the same time: military, humanitarian, political, and international. According to Okhotnikova, Kyiv, like many Ukrainian cities, does not have access to electricity almost all the time due to serious damage to the Ukrainian power system caused by constant deliberate Russian shelling. At the same time, the Russians regularly shell civilian buildings. Ukraine 5 AM Coalition not only records such attacks but also documents various forms of other war crimes in the liberated Ukrainian territories: attacks on Ukrainian cultural objects, forced disappearance and unlawful detention of civilians, torture, use of civilians as human shields, sexual and gender-based violence. 

The scale of Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine is astounding, Natalia Okhotnikova noted: “Since February 24, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has registered 60,000 war crimes, apart from about 30,000 cases in the registry opened since 2014. The national system is overburdened, so international support is essential to ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice through all possible mechanisms of prosecution, both at the national level and through international mechanisms.” 

Okhotnikova also stressed that many activists, volunteers, and leaders of local communities suffered in the occupied territories. 

“The Russians, on the one hand, seek to use violence to break such people and recruit them to their side and, on the other hand, to take revenge on those who organized pro-Ukrainian events and resisted. Since Kherson region and part of Zaporizhzhia region were occupied very quickly, the Russian troops did not expect so much resistance from the local population. However, the Ukrainians who found themselves under occupation showed by all available means that Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions are Ukraine. And, unfortunately, many of the organizers of pro-Ukrainian rallies suffered for their position and were kidnapped by the occupiers. Some of them were released after the de-occupation of part of Kherson region, but the fate of others is unknown. According to witness statements, people were detained at occupation checkpoints, during pro-Ukrainian rallies, at workplaces, or at home. No one could feel safe as long as the towns were occupied,” Natalia Okhotnikova said. 

She added that currently ZMINA has collected information on 386 cases of disappearances of active citizens in the temporarily occupied territories. Okhotnikova noted that the Russians detained anyone who openly expressed their pro-Ukrainian stance or looked “too Ukrainian” — had a traditional Ukrainian hairstyle or tattoo. The occupiers also detained drivers who provided humanitarian aid to the population by transporting bread, water, or other foodstuffs. 

“Every day we receive messages from people who are looking for their missing relatives, and each of these messages is full of pain and confusion because the worst thing is not knowing what happened to the one you love. It is very simple and at the same time difficult to say what the Russians want from Ukraine. They seek to destroy our infrastructure, our lives, and our future in any way available to them,” Natalia Okhotnikova added.

In addition, during the trip to The Hague, the Coalition members met with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and a great friend of Ukraine — Deputy Head of Mission of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Ukraine Pieter van Vliet. They talked about the forced deportation of the local population from Ukrainian territory to the Russian Federation, a large scale of deportation, and that the human rights community considers these actions as another way of waging war against Ukraine. 

“Every Russian must be made aware of the fact that responsibility for everything they do in Ukraine will surely come. It must not be blurred or too general, every criminal must understand that all crimes against the civilian population are documented by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, the human rights community, and international partners 24/7. We see every step of war criminals and record it even without electricity,” Natalia Okhotnikova noted. 

Representatives of Ukraine 5 AM Coalition also underscored that they are ready to create all possible mechanisms for the consideration of Russian war crimes and submit the documented data to bring Russia to justice.