International Criminal Court jurisdiction might be an effective legal tool for punishing those responsible for the Olenivka massacre

Last September, a number of civil society organizations submitted information and documentation to the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, proving that the Olenivka prison attack that took a tragic toll on lives was a war crime. However, an effective tool for bringing those responsible for this grave offense against Ukrainian defenders to justice might be the International Criminal Court’s investigation and prosecution.

Oleksandr Markov, representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, made this statement at a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform.

“In September last year, a submission was made with sufficiently high-quality evidence that it (the attack on Olenivka – ed.) was a war crime and was submitted to the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. Nevertheless, effective justice practices at this point should be the prosecution of those who either directly ordered the use of lethal weapons or the prosecution of those perpetrators—the commanders, the leaders of the aggressor state, who should have ensured the implementation of international humanitarian law. In this context, all of us and I personally hope that an effective tool could be the International Criminal Court judicial proceedings. That’s, in my opinion, our common task, as civil society and the state, to ensure the effectiveness of the justice system,” emphasized Markov. 

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