44 states support idea of establishing tribunal for Russian crimes against Ukraine
Representatives of 44 countries in the Netherlands stressed the importance of holding Russia fully accountable for its crimes against Ukraine and supported the idea of establishing a special tribunal for this purpose, announced Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, citing a declaration published on the website of the Dutch government.
In the declaration following the conference "Restoring Justice in Ukraine" held in The Hague on April 2, the signatory countries noted that they "remain committed" to the establishment of a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The signatories also welcomed the offer of the Netherlands to host such a special tribunal.
The signatories include European countries, as well as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan.
Kuleba noted that two years ago, the idea of creating a special tribunal was "categorically rejected by everyone," and a year ago, he said, it seemed that the work on it was "mired in disputes between states."
Now, however, the Foreign Minister is confident that the countries will be able to find "all the necessary solutions and implement the tribunal."
"We need to make one more push to make it happen," he stated, without specifying what he meant.
Special tribunal to prosecute Russia
Back in September 2022, the President's Office announced that Ukraine was offering the G7 countries and other partner states to support the initiative to create a special international tribunal to punish Russia for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine explained that international criminal justice has sufficient tools to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide. But the existing institutions face "objective legal obstacles" in investigating the crime of aggression against Ukraine. That is why it is necessary to create a special tribunal that will be able to bring the leadership of the Russian Federation to justice for this particular crime.
On January 16, the European Parliament received a proposal to establish a special tribunal for Russia. Since then, a number of countries and EU officials have expressed their support for the initiative. The Netherlands has said that it is ready to host the tribunal for Russia.
In August 2023, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Smirnov said that Ukraine would not agree to any hybrid format of the tribunal, which would consider its creation as part of the Ukrainian judicial system, and added that discussions on the tribunal were still ongoing.
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