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The US Ambassador to Albania, Yuri Kim says that the US and Albania have a special responsibility to deal with what is happening in Ukraine, crimes which are being documented.
In a reaction on the official website of the United States Embassy, Kim writes that the United States, Albania, the European Union and allies are tracking down and documenting atrocities and abuses in Ukraine and demanding accountability.
Ambassador Yuri Kim: Ukraine is many miles away, but as members of the United Nations Security Council, the United States and Albania have a special responsibility to deal with what is happening there. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjust war against Ukraine has produced horrific violence and caused endless deaths and destruction. The world has witnessed the horrors of this war in images from Ukrainian cities like Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel, and in Ukrainian villages and towns still captured or surrounded by Russian forces, like Mariupol. This violence has taken the form of attacks that have injured and killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, a child shelter and a busy train station, leading to a collective national trauma for Ukrainians that will not never completely deleted. There are also credible reports of brutal violence against persons: individuals killed as in executions; bodies showing signs of torture; and sexual violence against women and children. The brutality of the war – the violence exercised on the innocent by Russian forces – is known to the extent of pain for the Albanian people.
These horrific events in Ukraine do not seem to be isolated incidents or cases of special soldiers who ignore orders and “get out of line.” They include reports of what appears to be a deliberate, disturbing campaign and a deeply disturbing course of action of torture, rape, murder and other atrocities. Those responsible for these atrocities – including those who ordered them – must be brought to justice.
Attacks such as the April 28 rocket attack on Kiev show an open disregard for civilian life. As of May 26, the United Nations has officially confirmed the death or injury of more than 7,800 Ukrainian civilians, while stressing that the actual number is likely to be much higher. These figures do not include Mariupol, a city in which officials say more than 10,000 civilians have been killed. Among the victims in Mariupol was a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor who died in a basement during the siege by the Kremlin. After resisting the Nazis, she lost her life from Russian aggression.
President Biden and Secretary Blinken have condemned the blatant war crimes committed by members of the Russian forces in Ukraine. The United States, Albania, the European Union, and our allies and partners are tracking and documenting atrocities in Ukraine so that we can share information with institutions working to hold those responsible accountable for their actions. Together with Albania, the United States is supporting a series of international investigations into atrocities in Ukraine. These include those committed by the International Criminal Court, the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). We are also supporting civil society and NGOs documenting human rights violations.
On May 17, the US State Department launched a new Conflict Observatory to collect, analyze, and make widely available evidence of war crimes and other atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine. The program aims to support eventual prosecutions in local courts of Ukraine, courts in countries which are third parties, US courts and other important courts. At the request of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, we are also supporting a team of international prosecutors and war crimes experts, who are providing advice and support to the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities to collect, store and similarly analyze the evidence of atrocities for prosecution. We assisted in establishing fact-finding efforts through the UN Human Rights Council and the OSCE Moscow Mechanism. On April 13, the OSCE fact-finding mission released detailed and compelling data on human rights abuses and abuses by Russia and its violations of international humanitarian law. It cited evidence of direct targeting of civilians, attacks on medical facilities, rape, executions, robbery and forced deportation of civilians to Russia. The ombudsman for human rights in Ukraine has reported that Russian forces have repeatedly captured and raped dozens of Ukrainian girls and women – some of whom are pregnant – and stated that the intention was for the victims to give up sex in the future and therefore never again give birth to Ukrainian children.
There is a strong international consensus that the behavior of the Russian state is intolerable and those responsible should not be thrown away with impunity for causing such violence and for openly violating the principles that underpin international peace and security. Together with our allies and partners, we will pursue accountability for war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine using all available means, including prosecution, as appropriate. It is critical that the international community continue its concerted efforts to document these abuses, analyze the evidence, and ensure that it is collected and cataloged.
Our simple message to Russia’s military and political leadership, as well as its military forces who commit war crimes or other atrocities, is this: the world is watching and you will be held accountable. We will continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons and equipment it needs to defend itself, and we will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the Kremlin’s brutal and senseless war.
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