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At U.N., Amal Clooney pushes for Ukraine war crimes justice
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney urged countries at the United Nations on Wednesday to focus on international justice for war crimes in Ukraine so evidence does not sit in storage – as it has done for victims of Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.
“Ukraine is, today, a slaughterhouse. Right in the heart of Europe,” Clooney told an informal U.N. Security Council meeting on accountability in Ukraine, organized by France and Albania.
Clooney recalled a 2017 Security Council vote to approve a measure she helped lobby for – the creation of a U.N. team to collect, preserve and store evidence of possible international crimes committed by Islamic State in Iraq. It was the same year her son and daughter with U.S. actor George Clooney were born.
“My children are now almost 5, and so far most of the evidence collected by the U.N. is in storage – because there is no international court to put ISIS on trial,” she said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which handles war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression, has no jurisdiction because Iraq and Syria are not members.
Clooney is part of an international legal task force advising Ukraine on securing accountability for Ukrainian victims in national jurisdictions and working with the Hague-based ICC.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan opened an investigation into Ukraine a week after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.
“This is a time when we need to mobilize the law and send it into battle. Not on the side of Ukraine against the Russian Federation, or on the side of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, but on the side of humanity,” Khan told the U.N. meeting.
Russian diplomat Sergey Leonidchenko described the ICC as a “political instrument.” He accused the United States and Britain of hypocrisy for supporting the ICC inquiry in Ukraine after doing “everything imaginable to shield their own military.”
Moscow describes its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” and denies targeting civilians.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova’s office has told Reuters it is preparing war crimes charges against at least seven Russian military personnel.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Richard Pullin)
International justice refers to the legal processes and institutions that address crimes that affect the global community, such as war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, ensuring accountability for perpetrators.
War crimes are serious violations of the laws and customs of war, which include acts such as intentionally killing civilians, torturing prisoners of war, and taking hostages.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an international tribunal established to prosecute individuals for crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Evidence preservation refers to the process of maintaining and protecting evidence to ensure its integrity and availability for legal proceedings, crucial in cases of war crimes and human rights violations.
Accountability in the context of war crimes refers to the responsibility of individuals and states to answer for their actions and face legal consequences for violations of international law.
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