EU official: Russia will be held accountable for possible war crimes

In an interview with Radio Free Europe, Eamon Gilmore, the EU’s special envoy for human rights, also suggested that one day Russian President Vladimir Putin may be on the dock, but not as had taken place in the case of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, following the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia.

“Milosevic never thought he would face trial or the Hague Tribunal when he committed war crimes,” Gilmore said.

“People who are responsible can be held accountable for crimes no matter how long it takes,” he added.

Ukrainian and international investigators are interviewing witnesses, documenting alleged crimes and gathering evidence for alleged Russian crimes so they can use them in future prosecutions.

Following the withdrawal of Russian troops last month from areas north of Kiev, officials are investigating whether civilians were executed by Russian troops, but are also collecting data on suspected rape cases.

Human Rights Watch is among several organizations that in March accused Russian troops of “numerous crimes that appear to be war crimes” in the northern city of Bucha before troops withdrew from the area after the Kremlin focused its offensive. its in the south and east of Ukraine.

“The bombing of hospitals is a war crime. Bombing schools is a war crime. Bombing kindergartens is a war crime. Targeting civilians. “These are war crimes,” Gilmore said.

“Investigations are currently being carried out, especially investigations by the International Criminal Court. “And there will be responsibility for what has happened in Ukraine these days, for what has been happening since February 24.” Despite the urgency to gather evidence in Ukraine, investigators face the battle to hold any Russian commander or political leader accountable before an international tribunal.

Russia is neither a member of the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, nor a member of the European Union. She was expelled from the Council of Europe a few days after launching the invasion of Ukraine; before that, Moscow had regularly ignored the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and even adopted constitutional amendments that directly contradicted the rulings of this court.

Russia has veto power in the United Nations Security Council, which means it will block any UN-led efforts on the issue.

Four days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the chief prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal announced that he has opened a war crimes investigation in Ukraine, investigating crimes since 2014 when war broke out in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas and Russian regular troops took over take part in at least two major battles there.
According to the rules of the International Criminal Court, Ukraine, which is a member of this court, can ask it to exercise its jurisdiction over investigations into possible war crimes.

However, Gilmore argued that time is not an obstacle to launching criminal cases, and he said modern technologies, such as satellite imagery, make it easier to gather evidence.

“The idea that the people who were directly involved in committing these crimes or those who are responsible for giving orders and have political responsibility for the war… all of these will be investigated,” he said.

At the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Milosevic became the first incumbent leader to be prosecuted for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. He died in The Hague in 2006, before a court could rule on his case.

Asked about reports that Ukrainian troops may have committed war crimes, Gilmore suggested they too would be investigated, but he downplayed those reports.

“Russia is an aggressor in Ukraine, let us never forget that. Ukraine has not invaded Russia, Russia has invaded Ukraine. “Therefore, I think we should take into account and avoid the trap of alternatives or parallel narratives that are being created,” he said.

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