On April 19, the Child Rights Protection Center in Kyiv presented an analytical briefing on the topic: “The Anniversary of the Arrest Warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova for the Deportation of Ukrainian Children: What Has It Achieved and What Comes Next?”.
The event was dedicated to the anniversary of the arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova for the deportation of Ukrainian children. Human rights defenders, representatives of diplomatic missions, and journalists participated in the event.
The report was presented by Olga Aivazovska, Chair of the Board of the Civic Network OPORA and co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, Andriy Mikheiev, an international law lawyer at the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, and Kateryna Rashevska, an international lawyer and expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights.
It is noted that, according to data from Ukrainian and foreign prosecutorial and investigative authorities, since February 24, 2022, Russian military and politicians have committed all key crimes against children (according to the classification of UN resolutions).
As of April 11, 2024, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the National Police of Ukraine, and the National Information Bureau, there have been 542 children killed and 1,290 wounded, 15 confirmed cases of sexual violence against children, and 19,546 children deported and forcibly relocated. Additionally, 2,285 incidents of armed attacks on children’s institutions and facilities have been documented, and five criminal proceedings have been opened regarding the recruitment of Ukrainian children into the Russian armed forces and their use for military purposes.
The tragic death of two children in Dnipro during a nighttime shelling and the hitting of a residential building in the city center is, unfortunately, a tragic but factual proof that the Russian Federation is aware of the consequences of these attacks for civilians, including children. A similar situation recently occurred in the city of Chernihiv, before that in Odesa. Unfortunately, this is daily statistics, but for Ukrainians, it is not statistics; it is the reality of war that we have to respond to in the information space and obviously urge our partners and our law enforcement system and legislative branch to properly prepare the ground for the inevitability of punishment for these crimes in the future both at the national and international jurisdiction level
Olga Aivazovska, co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory and Chair of the Board of OPORA.
It is important to note that official data does not include all crimes against children. It only includes cases where there were reports from victims or witnesses or officially established facts for opening proceedings by investigative authorities and prosecutors.
Often, witnesses and victims of sexual crimes do not report these facts due to severe psychological trauma. Additionally, the prosecutorial and investigative authorities do not have information on most of these crimes committed in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or those reported to foreign law enforcement by Ukrainian refugees. This often happens due to problems in information exchange within the framework of international legal cooperation. Therefore, the total number of crimes committed by Russians against children is unknown.
The abduction and forced displacement (deportation) of Ukrainian children since the beginning of the full-scale invasion are a separate layer of severe violations of children’s rights. Among the abducted and displaced were orphans, children deprived of parental care, and children from complete families who were separated from their parents due to filtration measures and other reasons after the so-called “evacuation” to Russia.
Since the issuance of the ICC warrant, Putin has made many international visits, primarily to satellite and partner countries of the Russian Federation, such as China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kazakhstan. However, even those states that are participants of the Rome Statute and obliged to respond to the ICC’s call for the arrest and extradition of suspects sometimes refuse, citing international customary law and the personal immunity of heads of state. As for Maria Lvova-Belova, she does not have personal immunity, but whether she plans to leave Russia is unknown. What the ICC can do is approve official charges against suspects even in their absence, according to Article 61 of the Rome Statute. This will not achieve justice for the victims of these crimes, but it will significantly change the public and political status and attitude towards Vladimir Putin and his commissioner. This is possible and entirely in the hands of the ICC prosecutors
Andriy Mikheiev, an international lawyer and expert at the International Center for Ukrainian Victory
According to the initial formal characteristics, the deportation or forced removal of Ukrainian children is related to genocide. According to the formulation of Article 2 (e) of the 1948 Genocide Convention and Article 6 (e) of the Rome Statute, the forced transfer of children from one group to another is unequivocally one of the manifestations of the crime of genocide.
To date, Ukrainian competent authorities are investigating 3,793 criminal cases regarding war crimes committed by Russian military personnel against Ukrainian children. The process of identifying criminals, gathering evidence, and bringing the perpetrators to justice at the national level, including in absentia, continues.
The event was organized by the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in partnership with the International Center for Ukrainian Victory and the Civic Network OPORA.
