“Crimes Against Peaceful Civilians Warrant Your Action” The Center for Civil Liberties Appealed to PACE Members
On 30-31 January, a Ukrainian delegation, which included representatives of the Center for Civil Liberties, visited Strasbourg and held several important meetings there. Human rights defenders, former prisoners of war, unlawfully detained persons, and the representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War had talks with the PACE President, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Nataliia Yashchuk, Senior War Consequences Officer at the Center for Civil Liberties, addressed PACE members.
The Ukrainian delegation included Oleh Slobodianyk from the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Yulian Pylypei, a professional military with 12 years of service and a former prisoner of war, Leniie Umerova, a Crimean Tatar and a released prisoner of Russia, Maksym Butkevych, a journalist, an expert of the Center for Civil Liberties and a former prisoner of war, and also Nataliia Yashchuk and Aliona Maksymenko from the Center.
On 30 January, the Ukrainian team met PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos, the PACE delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Permanent Representation of Ukraine to the Council of Europe. It also attended the PACE Session and the Joint Meeting of four PACE Committees dedicated to Ukrainian military and civilian prisoners of war. On 31 January, the delegation held talks with CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty.
Their personal meeting with Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, was a crucial event. After that, Mr Berge tweeted, “Thank you so much for your strong and important testimonies. Your work is vital”.
Nataliia Yashchuk, Senior War Consequences Officer at the Center for Civil Liberties, addressed the members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and placed an emphasis on enforced disappearances of tens of thousands of peaceful civilians that occurred during the occupation by Russia of the Ukrainian territories, which is one of the most horrible aspects of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Nataliia presented three requirements for PACE members.
- The investigation of enforced disappearances as a crime against humanity. We urge the Ukrainian law enforcers, the international community and international organizations to initiate criminal proceedings on charges of crimes against humanity to be brought against the Russian military and officials responsible for enforced disappearances, torture and other serious human rights violations.
- Bringing war criminals to justice. International crimes have no statute of limitations. The Russian war criminals must be brought before a tribunal even after the war.
- Strengthening pressure on the Russian Federation. The international community must demand that Russia immediately release all unlawfully detained civilians and fully comply with the provisions of international humanitarian law. The International Committee of the Red Cross must be given access to all places of detention, especially those where the victims of enforced disappearances are held in a living hell. Mixed medical commissions should be established (Ukraine already has them) to review the conditions under which detainees are held. There should be an appeal to the international community to increase leverage on Russia to ensure that all prisoners of war are immediately released and that international law is fully respected. Tighter sanctions should be applied with the aim of releasing civilians unlawfully detained by Russia.
“Dear members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the crimes against civilians we are witnessing now are crimes against humanity and they warrant your action”, Nataliia Yashchuk emphasized.
