Following its illegal invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, Russia has deliberately escalated its aggression and occupation of Ukrainian territories. In addition to the devastation and loss of lives on the battlefields, the world is witnessing daily horrific assaults by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian civilians and domestic infrastructure. The Russian aggression defies all morality and human decency.
Further, the Russian armed forces atrocities are crimes as defined by UN charters and international codes of justice that have emanated from the post World War II Nuremberg trials. These include War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity, Crimes of Genocide and Crimes of Aggression. The Soviet Union was a prime mover at Nuremberg for the principles of international justice. Subsequent Soviet and post-Soviet Russian regimes have been signatories to these statutes and principles of international justice – all of which Russia is now itself disdainfully violating.
The Russian crimes and atrocities against Ukraine must be universally condemned and those responsible be brought to justice.
We call on the Canadian Government and the international community to fully support the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) with its ongoing investigations and prosecutions of Russia’s War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Crimes of genocide against Ukraine… and
We call on the Canadian government to use its diplomatic channels in supporting the International Community and the ICC in establishing a Special International Tribunal for the prosecution of Russia’s Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. This Special Tribunal would have the specific mandate to prosecute any and all of those Russian political and military leaders for their orders, approvals and funding of the war crimes against Ukraine.
The work of the ICC and a Special International Tribunal need not be deterred by a Russian regime dismissal of or noncompliance with their investigations and prosecutions. The ICC and the Special Tribunal would gather critical evidence, document the crimes, identify those responsible and lay charges in absentia for those convicted. Left unchecked, the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine represents a grave threat to international order and justice.
