A Ukraine conference in the Netherlands today will discuss how Russian war crimes can be prosecuted. 40 countries are taking part. But they are faced with a “mammoth task”.
King Willem-Alexander will open the Ukraine conference with a personal video message. More than 40 countries are taking part and sending their foreign and justice ministers to The Hague. Also sitting at the round table are representatives of the European Commission, the Council of Europe, Eurojust – the EU agency for judicial cooperation in criminal matters – and the International Criminal Court.
They met for the first time shortly after the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022. Last year, the discussion format was firmly established in the Hague World Forum. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, made it clear: “In these times” law enforcement officers should not stand by. “Not in The Hague, nowhere!” said Khan. It’s about “upholding principles that are important for humanity. That’s what we want to do. And everyone has a role to play.”
Ukrainian NGOs and other organizations are also there again. The new Dutch Foreign Minister, Hanke Bruins Slot, stressed ahead of the conference entitled “Restoring Justice for Ukraine” that the Netherlands felt “strongly obliged” to support Ukraine. “We are the leading nation when it comes to accountability. We must hold Russia responsible for war crimes and aggression!” said Slot.
“We stay tuned”
The Hague is not only the seat of the Dutch government: it is also home to other institutions – such as the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Eurojust, the European police authority Europol, the International Criminal Court and the specially established “Register of Damage for Ukraine” – an organization , which records facts and figures about deaths, injuries and damage in Ukraine. That’s why everything comes together in The Hague.
Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice and the Rule of Law, speaks of a mammoth task: “Coordination is the key word,” said Reynders. “Because we don’t just have to work on it for months and years, maybe decades. And we’ll keep at it until we bring everyone responsible for the atrocities in Ukraine to justice.”
war criminal and demand reparations
The conference serves as a close exchange between all those involved in order to collect justifiable evidence on war crimes, crimes against humanity and destruction in Ukraine. The discussion forum also wants to coordinate which countries send which experts. For example, the Dutch have commissioned four forensic teams to examine war victims killed in Ukraine.
As Iryna Venediktova, Prosecutor General of Ukraine, said at the last meeting, she was grateful for the cross-border cooperation. “From the Ukrainian perspective, it is very important to do this work together with the international community. Step by step – for the common goal: accountability and justice.”
In the long term, the aim is to be able to bring war criminals before the International Criminal Court in The Hague – and also to be able to demand reparations for war damage.
Ralf Lachmann, WDR, currently ARD The Hague, tagesschau, April 1, 2024 8:48 p.m