Ukraine is the first country where the ICC started its investigation during active hostilities – Oleksandra Romantsova

The new phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the scale of the crimes Russian soldiers committed in Ukraine after February 24 set a precedent for the International Criminal Court. Its representatives had never visited combat zones before the end of conflicts. Oleksandra Romantsova, the executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties, told that in her interview to PLATFOR MA.

“The current situation in Ukraine is unique. As a rule, it takes the International Criminal Court a long time to decide whether there have been crimes or not after a conflict ends. Then, the international prosecutor arrives. Ukraine, meanwhile, has become the first country to visit during the conflict. They (the ICC) are already here,” she replied to a journalist. 

In addition, she explained how the war crimes are being documented and what can accelerate making procedural decisions about them at the international level. 

Oleksandra Romantsova also disclosed some details about the work of human rights defenders as well as volunteers on organizing the documentation of war crimes in the territory of Ukraine. 

“Our human rights organizations form a coalition. Each is responsible for a certain region, where it chronicles the events and processes the collected information. It includes the statements of victims and their relatives as well as open source data,” she noted. 

To learn more about the other peculiarities of documenting and classifying war crimes, please become acquainted with the full version of the interview.