Thirty-four European countries, including Australia, Costa Rica and the European Union, signed on Friday as a unit to create a future special tribunal that will seek to prosecute Russia for crimes committed during its invasion of Ukraine.
The plan has been in the works for a full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signing an agreement with the Council of Europe last year to implement it.
What was agreed upon on Friday?
A majority of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, a France-based body that focuses on the protection of human rights and democracy with a membership larger than the EU and not to be confused with the European Council, approved a proposal laying the groundwork for a future tribunal, the council said in a statement. Ukraine is a member state.
“The time to hold Russia accountable for its aggression is fast approaching,” said Alain Burset, the organization’s secretary general. “The Special Tribunal represents justice and hope. Action is needed now to deliver on this political commitment by securing the functioning and funding of the Tribunal.”
“Today, we are taking responsibility to ensure that aggression does not go unanswered,” Burset said, inviting other countries to join the initiative.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Syabyha was among the participants on Friday, calling the event “a historic day.”
“Like the Nuremberg Tribunal 80 years ago, this special tribunal in The Hague will restore justice from the ruins of war,” Sibiha said, referencing the trials of the few surviving senior Nazis after World War II.
“We are creating an infrastructure of accountability with three pillars: Special Tribunal, Register of Losses and Claims Commission. I also want to emphasize that accountability will never be compromised.”
Netherlands Foreign Minister Tom Berendtsen said his country had agreed to “host the initial phase” of the special tribunal in The Hague, which is home to several other international legal institutions and processes, notably the International Criminal Court.
“The road to justice for Ukraine is long and not easy, but that does not stop us from doing everything in our power to help achieve it,” Berendsen said.
How does this plan differ from the International Criminal Court, will it be able to prosecute effectively?
Critics have asked how such a tribunal would be able to prosecute alleged Russian war criminals or the state itself, given how unlikely it seems that President Vladimir Putin’s regime would cooperate or agree to its sanctions.
Russia was once a member of the Council of Europe, but was expelled in 2022 in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has already issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials, often linked to specific alleged crimes such as abducting children or deliberately targeting civilians. Russia is also not a sanctioned member of the tribunal, and does not generally extradite its citizens for trial in other countries.
However, the Council of Europe’s tribunal is designed to be able to prosecute issues that the ICC considers beyond its jurisdiction, such as the more fundamental decision to launch the invasion of Ukraine or questions such as reparations.
Twelve member states have not yet signed, including EU members Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Malta. The Balkan countries Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Albania have not joined, nor have Armenia, Azerbaijan and NATO member Turkey.
‘Tribunal no abstract consideration’ amid deadly Russian attack on Kiev apartment block
The decision came a day after a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in the capital Kiev killed 24 people. President Zelensky laid red roses amid the debris on Friday and said Ukraine would not allow such attacks to go “unpunished.”
“Our response against Russia’s oil industry, arms industry and those directly responsible for committing war crimes against Ukraine and Ukrainians is fully justified,” Zelensky said.
Foreign Minister Sibiha similarly mentioned this attack in the meeting in Chisinau.
The tribunal, he wrote, was “not an abstract idea”. “Yesterday, a Russian attack on Kiev killed 24 people, including 3 children. Their relatives are watching. We have no moral right to fail. They deserve justice. Today’s agreement, ratified by 37 states on three continents, makes justice inevitable.”
Edited by: Wesley Rahn