International law crisis is temporary - human rights activist Matviychuk

International law crisis is temporary - human rights activist Matviychuk

Exclusive
Ukrinform
Nobel laureate and head of the Center for Civil Liberties Oleksandra Matviychuk said that international law remains an effective mechanism for punishing the aggressor.

She said this in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague.

“It seems as if international law is not working now, but this is temporary. That is why we are documenting international crimes in this war that Russia has started against Ukraine, working to restore the law. It is in the interests of not only people in Ukraine, it is in the interests of all people in the world,” the human rights activist said.

According to Matviychuk, the international human rights system needs to change.

“This is logical, because international law is dynamic, it is constantly evolving, although not as rapidly as, for example, the latest technologies. After all, it is always an agreement between countries, it is always a search for some kind of consensus,” she said.

In this regard, Matviychuk cited the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide as an example.

Read also: 16 children become victims of Russian war in Ukraine every week - Zarivna at UN Security Council

“Ukraine is convinced that Russia is committing genocide. But genocide as an international crime has a certain characteristic, it is necessary to prove genocidal intent to destroy a specific protected group in whole or in part. And this war is genocidal in nature. Because in order to destroy a national group in whole or in part, it is not necessary to kill all members of the group, but it is possible to forcibly destroy them, erase their identity, and sooner or later the national group will disappear. This aspect is what is called cultural genocide in the media, which was part of this concept when it was developed by Rafal Lemkin, and it was not included in the Convention. And this needs to be changed,” she said.

Matviychuk also noted that the International Criminal Court is an important element of the international justice system, created to investigate and punish those who commit the most serious international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.

Read also: ICC addresses “only the tip of the iceberg” - expert

“We all have to defend the International Criminal Court and help make this tool effective, because there are no perfect tools. And we should work here too, because this is the only international court that is constantly operating and can bring Putin to justice for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide. Yes, this court cannot hold him accountable for the crime of aggression. That is why we are talking about a special tribunal. But it has not yet been created, and the ICC exists. And the loss of this tool would be a huge defeat for people around the world who document international crimes, hoping that those who committed them will be punished,” the Nobel laureate said.

As Ukrinform reported, the head of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane, who issued the arrest warrant for Putin, expressed concern about the pressure and attacks the institution is undergoing.

Photo: Iryna Drabok, Ukrinform

While citing and using any materials on the Internet, links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory. In addition, citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet. Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No. 270/96-VR of July 3, 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No. 2849-Х of March 31, 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice.

© 2015-2024 Ukrinform. All rights reserved.

Extended searchHide extended search
By period:
-