Ukrainian NGOs call on ICC to investigate Olenivka prison massacre

Six Ukrainian civil society organizations, including the Regional Center for Human Rights, the Media Initiative for Human Rights, and NGO “Olenivka Community,” have formally appealed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure accountability for war crimes committed by the russian federation. Their communication seeks to uphold the principle of the inevitability of punishment for such crimes.

This call was discussed during a recent briefing at the Media Center Ukraine.

“My colleagues and I are united in our assessment of these events, such as murder and torture, which constitute war crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” said Roman Martynovskyy, lead expert of the Regional Center for Human Rights. “In our message, we urge the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate these crimes, utilizing every available tool within the ICC’s power to ensure that the principle of inevitable punishment is upheld.”

Martynovskyy emphasized that the tragedy in Olenivka is a crime with no statute of limitations, one that must be addressed with accountability.

“We, as the authors of this message, are certain that the crime committed by agents of the aggressor state—specifically the murder and torture of unarmed prisoners, who were under the protection of the Third Geneva Convention—is a heinous act, marked by deceit and cynicism. It is a crime the world has not seen since World War II, one that has no expiration date for prosecution, and it must be punished,” he added.

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