Statement by the delegation of Ukraine at the General Assembly Seventieth session on Report of the International Criminal Court
Statement by the delegation of Ukraine at the General Assembly Seventieth session on Report of the International Criminal Court: draft resolution (A/70/L.47) [item 78]
Mr. President,
Ukraine co-sponsored today’s Resolution on the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which we consider as one of the most important human rights advancements of the last century.
The ICC is undoubtedly the cornerstone of an international justice system providing that there can be no impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
Ukraine has demonstrated its support for this system created by the Rome Statute on numerous occasions, starting with its active participation in the 1998 Rome Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, followed by the signing of the Rome Statute on 20 January 2000.
Ukraine was among the first non-state parties, which ratified on 18 October 2006 the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the ICC — an essential mechanism for the effective functioning of the Court — becoming a model for countries that still need to accede to that Agreement.
While realizing the importance of being a Party to this universal legal institution combating impunity worldwide Ukraine has set the ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC as one of its key priorities.
To this end, following the signing the Statute, Ukraine carefully studied the approaches of other states in tackling the complementarity issues and drafted a relevant amendment to ensure the compatibility of the provisions of the Constitution and the Statute.
We are attentively observing developments in the field of international criminal justice. We consider the decisions taken at the Kampala Review conference back in 2010, inter alia, on amendments to the Rome Statute regarding the definition of the crime of aggression and a regime establishing the execution of Court’s jurisdiction over this crime to be an outstanding example how the international community should tackle the most challenging issues of the modern world — through an intense debate, comprehensive scientific research towards a consensus which couldn’t have been reached before the Court was established.
Today Ukraine is at the final stage of ratification process of the Rome Statute. Moreover, the respective package of documents submitted to the Parliament of Ukraine also foresees the ratification of two 2010 Kampala amendments.
Mr. President,
In the light of the current challenging situation in and around Ukraine, we fully recognize the necessity of ensuring the global jurisdiction, legitimacy and support for the International Criminal Court. Ukraine strictly adheres to the principles of democracy, good governance, justice and the rule of law and, therefore, strongly supports the activities of the Court in an effort to ensure a universal commitment to fight against impunity.
Starting from February 20, 2014, Ukraine has been a victim of an ongoing armed aggression carried out by the Russian Federation and Russia-supported militants and terrorists. As a result, a part of its territory — the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as several areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine — have been occupied, thousands of Ukrainian nationals killed or injured, infrastructure destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people forcefully displaced and seeking refuge.
These acts constitute the most serious crimes against humanity and war crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
In this respect, on 8 September 2015, the Government of Ukraine lodged a declaration under article 12 (3) of the Rome Statute accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC in relation to crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by senior officials of the Russian Federation and leaders of terrorist organizations «DNR» and «LNR», which led to extremely grave consequences and mass murder of Ukrainian nationals.
We believe that the ICC would be one of the best ways to ensure that these perpetrators of international crimes are brought to justice, that mass human rights violations are recognized as such, and that victims receive redress for their suffering.
I thank you.