Riga, May 19, LETA. In a resolution adopted on Thursday, the European Parliament (EP) calls for the establishment of a special international tribunal for the investigation of war crimes in Russia, MEPs in Latvia informed LETA.
The resolution calls on the European Union (EU) to support the establishment of a special international tribunal to punish crimes outside the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and to bring to justice the political leaders and military commanders of Russia and its allies.
MEPs also want the EU to provide all the necessary human and budgetary resources as soon as possible, as well as administrative, investigative and logistical support, for the establishment of such a tribunal.
MEPs point out that the atrocities reported, including indiscriminate urban shootings, forced deportations, the use of illicit ammunition, attacks on civilians fleeing humanitarian corridors, the killing of civilians, sexual violence, are serious violations of international humanitarian law. qualified as war crimes for which no one has so far been prosecuted or punished.
The resolution adopted states that the EU institutions and the Member States must take all necessary measures in international courts and tribunals to support the prosecution of the ruling regimes in Russia and Belarus for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression. These investigations and the related prosecutions must be extended to all personnel of the Russian armed forces and government officials involved in war crimes.
MEPs also stress the importance of swift action, as the ongoing war threatens to destroy evidence of war crimes. Parliament supports the investigation launched by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the work of the Commission of Inquiry into the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the efforts of independent civil society organizations to gather and preserve evidence of war crimes.
MEPs welcome the joint investigation team set up by Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, coordinated by the EU’s criminal justice agency Eurojust, with the participation of the International Criminal Prosecutor’s Office, and encourage other Member States to join the joint investigation team.
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