Genocide in Mariupol: human rights defenders prepare complaint to ICC

The T4P initiative (Tribunal for putin) has prepared the first document containing systematic legal arguments that russia is committing genocide in Ukraine. A large complaint will be published in Ukrainian and English and filed to the International Criminal Court.

During the presentation of the document at the country’s main discussion platform BrainHub in Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform, the authors of the complaint noted that during its preparation they focused on three main types of crimes that they discovered and substantiated.

The authors also noted that the complaint consists of several sections and a general justification. Uncovered facts and evidence are provided for each type of crime.

“We assumed that Mariupol is quite a possible target, where the crime of genocide against a protected group of Ukrainians was committed on the basis of nationality,” said Mykhailo Romanov, expert at the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, one of the authors of the complaint to the ICC.

The expert noted that he was responsible for describing one of the types of crimes, in particular murders. He said that the number of victims in Mariupol is measured in tens of thousands.

“We could not establish the exact numbers at that time. But we indirectly, by subtraction from the total population of Mariupol, subtracted those parts of the population, about whom there was information on their evacuation, on displacement to the territory of russia or some other data that allowed subtracting this population group. And we got a number of 100,000 people. That is, these people were killed. They were killed in different ways, by different methods, with the use of different weapons, but in any case, they were murdered,” he explained.

At the same time, Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director at the Centre for Civil Liberties, emphasized that it is important for the international community to have a legal explanation of the crimes committed by russia.

“We are finally moving from what we feel to what we want, so that there will be an internationally recognized fact, and the history books will include indictments not only of putin, but also of the entire leadership of the government of the russian federation within the last nine years. Because, as we can see, Mariupol is a really telling example of thousands of people suffering from the decision made by putin and the leadership of the russian government to engage in aggression, to destroy Ukraine and the Ukrainian nation,” she emphasized. 

BrainHub is the country’s main discussion platform created by Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform. It brings together experts from the state and civil society sectors. BrainHub hosts intellectual discussions around the issues of the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. It’s the birthplace of the best ideas that will become the foundation for the road map of Ukraine’s reconstruction in all sectors: economy, infrastructure, education, agriculture, security, digital, etc.

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