Ukraine: Justice and Human Rights must be at the heart of any peace process

24 February marks three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. FIDH member organizations in Ukraine—the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group  (KHPG) and the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL)—have helped to document over 90,000 instances of violence that may amount to international crimes. Many of these alleged crimes have taken place in occupied Ukrainian territories, including in detention facilities both there and in Russia. With peace talks on the horizon, FIDH, as part of the People First campaign, and its global network urge states and international institutions to prioritize the release of all captives and uphold victims’ rights to truth, justice, and reparations in any negotiations or final conflict resolution.

Paris, Kyiv, 24 February 2025 – Today marks three years since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine, an unprovoked and deliberate escalation marking the beginning of the most devastating phase of the 11-year Russo-Ukrainian war. Contrary to the dangerously misinformed statements from the current United States administration, 141 states of the United Nations, including the U.S., have deplored in strongest terms “the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine in violation of Article 2 (4) of the [UN] Charter.”

International and civil society organizations, including FIDH members, the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL), and the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG), have documented more than 90,000 instances of violence that may amount to international crimes. These include arbitrary detentions, summary executions, enforced disappearances, and the widespread, systematic use of torture and inhumane treatment, often committed as part of a persecutory campaign against those perceived as opposing Russia’s invasion, as well as the forced displacement of civilians – including thousands of children – and the killing of prisoners of war (POWs).

Many of these atrocities occur in places of detention located in Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as inside Russia itself. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians and POWs are held in the same facilities, often in inhumane conditions with little access to food, water, medical care, or contact with the outside world. They are frequently subjected to beatings and electric shocks, sexual and gender-based violence, and other forms of physical and psychological torture, as well as to verbal abuse and humiliation. With nearly 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory currently under Russian occupation, serious human rights violations and impunity in these areas are likely to persist beyond the cessation of active hostilities should they remain under Russia’s effective control. Without sustained international pressure, those unjustly detained in Russia’s facilities may never be released. 

As peace negotiations approach or unfold, international law must guide any settlement. An agreement must prioritize human rights of Ukrainians in occupation and civilian and military detainees, ensuring victims’  rights to truth, justice, and reparations, while not legitimizing violations of peremptory norms of international law, such as the fundamental prohibition of annexation of territory, thereby rewarding aggression.

“Ukrainians want peace, but will peace come to the territories and people that will remain under Russia’s occupation if Russia is allowed to keep the territories it annexed? Experience shows it won’t,” remarked Oleksandra Matviichuk, Vice President of FIDH and Head of CCL. “Since 2014 I have interviewed hundreds of victims of Russian occupation, who described being forced to renounce their Ukrainian language and identity. Any peace settlement that relinquishes territories to Russia would amount to forced Russification and only encourage further aggression around the world. ” 

Yevhen Zakharov, Head of KHPG: “KHPG, CCL and their civil society partners have documented close to 600 cases of torture against detained civilians who have managed to find their way back to Ukraine, with thousands more remaining in Russian prisons, while reports indicate that nearly all detained POWs endure similar mistreatment. Any peace must ensure the immediate release of all these prisoners, and not sacrifice justice for expediency.” 

Standing in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, FIDH and its member organizations call on states and international institutions to: 

• Prioritize addressing serious violations of human rights, including those that amount to international crimes, that occur in the occupied territories of Ukraine and in places of detention maintained by the Russian authorities or their proxies. The scale of these atrocities should be a constant reminder of the price of acceptance of Russia’s unlawful annexation of Ukrainian territories;
• Place people first in any peace negotiations by calling for the immediate release and repatriation of all POWs held by all parties to the armed conflict, as well as all Ukrainian civilians detained by Russia; 
• Further all efforts to establish the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons on all sides of the conflict, and, to the extent possible, enable their reunification with their loved ones; 
• Ensure justice by supporting all ongoing accountability efforts: at national and international level, including investigations by the International Criminal Court, ongoing investigations based on extra-territorial jurisdiction, and towards the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine through an agreement between the Council of Europe and Ukraine. While it is difficult to see the contours of such a mechanism at this time, FIDH and the undersigned organizations especially encourage states to:

1. Ensure that such a mechanism is established through a meaningful consultation process with civil society in Ukraine; 
2. Enable the participation of victims and their representatives in the proceedings along the lines of the current provisions of the Rome Statute of the ICC; 
3. Insist that such a tribunal provide for meaningful cooperation and complementarity with the ICC; 
4. Ensure that the statute of the mechanism should provide for robust cooperation between states in the arrest and surrender of suspects. To that end, greater efforts should be made by states to ratify the Hague-Ljubljana Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance;
5. Take all necessary measures to amend the Rome Statute provisions on the crime of aggression, generally granting the ICC jurisdiction over this crime, thereby ensuring accountability for any act of aggression committed in the future.