AMSTERDAM, March 2 – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Wednesday that he would immediately launch an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, following requests from an unprecedented number of member states.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 has not yet toppled the government in Kyiv, but thousands of people are believed to have been killed or injured, according to officials in both countries and the United Nations. Read more
“Active investigations are officially starting in Ukraine after receiving references from 39 countries,” prosecutor Karim Khan wrote on Twitter.
Referrals from Member States speed up the investigation, allowing the prosecutor to omit the need to seek approval from The Hague tribunal, shortening months of proceedings. The prosecutor already said on Monday that he would seek approval from the court on war crimes charges in Ukraine. Read more
Exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, The Netherlands, 31 March 2021 REUTERS / Piroschka van de Wouw / File photo
The prosecutor’s office will begin gathering evidence of “all past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed in any part of Ukraine by any person,” Khan said in a statement.
Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the ensuing fighting in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces, Ukraine has accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction over crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on its territory since late 2013.
In December 2020, the prosecutor’s office announced that it had reason to believe that war crimes and other crimes were committed during the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but no request for a full investigation was made.
Russia is not a member of the ICC and rejects its jurisdiction.
The court can investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Ukraine, regardless of the nationality of the suspected perpetrators.
Report by Bart Meyer, Stephanie van den Berg and Toby Stirling Edited by Grant McCool
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