“The head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak took part in the thematic conference dedicated to the implementation of the seventh point of the Peace Formula “Restoration of Justice”. Among the meeting participants are representatives of about 60 partner countries and international organizations.”, — write: www.president.gov.ua
The head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak took part in the thematic conference dedicated to the implementation of the seventh point of the Peace Formula “Restoration of Justice”. The event was held online.
Among the meeting participants are representatives of about 60 partner countries and international organizations. The Ukrainian side was also represented at the conference by Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, deputy heads of the Office of the Head of State Ihor Zhovkva and Iryna Mudra, advisers to the head of the Office of the President Daria Zarivna and Oleksandr Bevz.
Andriy Yermak began the meeting by mentioning that two days ago, a photo of a Ukrainian prisoner of war executed by the Russian occupiers circulated on social networks.
“Such barbarism is not an isolated case. Prisoners were cut and stabbed in August, July and June. Executions take place regularly. These are more than war crimes. This is a system. Torture, rape and mass murder are their norm. This is their routine, fixed in orders,” he emphasized.
The head of the Office of the Head of State stressed that the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russia during this war are a consequence of the crime of aggression. Therefore, according to him, it is impossible to achieve lasting peace without restoring justice.
He emphasized that the Russian Federation is counting on impunity, but instead should bear legal responsibility and compensate for the damages. It is about paying reparations for the destruction and suffering that Ukraine and its people have suffered.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Caspar Veldkamp, as a representative of the country that is the co-chair of the Working Group on the implementation of this clause of the Peace Formula, noted that in recent months it was possible to achieve significant progress in the issue of restoring justice.
In particular, it is Ukraine’s ratification of the Rome Statute, the issuance by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of additional warrants for the arrest of the former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Serhiy Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov, and the further expansion of the range of categories of damages that are subject to compensation.
“All this shows that Russia will not escape from the consequences of its ongoing aggressive war against Ukraine,” Kaspar Veldkamp emphasized.
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan emphasized that all people in the world seek and demand justice, and the Ukrainian people have an unconditional right to justice and protection of the law. He noted that today Ukraine is taking all the necessary steps and creating legal instruments to bring justice closer.
Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin is convinced that the restoration of justice in Ukraine is a part of the universal security architecture, because peace in the whole world can be strong if it is based on the rule of law, respect and provision of basic values.
“We believe that Ukraine’s recent decision and the ongoing process of ratifying the Rome Statute will be an additional building block to promote and support justice for international crimes,” he added.
Andriy Kostin also noted that our state positively perceives the initiative of prosecutor Karim Khan to intensify dialogue regarding the development of provisions related to prosecution for the crime of aggression in the Rome Statute.
Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Mudra noted that thanks to the collective efforts of the international community, significant steps have already been taken towards justice. One of the most important, she called the creation of the Register of Damages for Ukraine as the first element of a comprehensive international compensation mechanism.
“We are now moving on to the establishment of a complaints commission, for which the tool should be ready next year, so that it will be operational in 2026. It is very important that we reached a broad consensus regarding the absence of political obstacles to the creation of a claims commission,” she said.
This thematic conference was already the third among those planned as a follow-up to the first Peace Summit. The first, dedicated to energy security, took place on August 22. The second, regarding food security, is September 4. The purpose of these measures is to develop a general peace plan initiated by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
The result of the conference is the Joint Communiqué, the text of which is given below.
