Center to investigate Russia's invasion of Ukraine opens in The Hague
Photo: ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan (Getty Images)
The International Office for the Investigation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is opening in The Hague, marking the first step towards a tribunal, reports The Guardian.
The International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) will open on Monday, June 3, in The Hague, serving as the initial stage towards holding the Moscow regime responsible, according to The Guardian.
The ICPA includes prosecutors from Kyiv, the European Union, the United States, and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The centre will conduct investigations and gather evidence as an intermediate step before the establishment of a special tribunal to hold Kremlin officials responsible for waging war against Ukraine.
Senior officials will hold a press conference at the ICPA headquarters at the EU judicial agency Eurojust. Among them are Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, Assistant US Attorney Kenneth Polite, and EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.
Tribunal for the Kremlin regime
Calls for creating a special tribunal for Russia have strengthened as the International Criminal Court (ICC), a court for war crimes also based in The Hague, does not have the mandate to investigate the broader crime of aggression. The ICC investigates more specific war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. In March, they issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for kidnapping Ukrainian children.
The group working on establishing a special tribunal to hold Russia responsible for crimes committed in Ukraine consists of 36 countries.
According to the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, Ihor Zhovkva, Ukraine hopes for unity among all members regarding the format of the tribunal's work.
Meanwhile, discussions are continuing, and the consideration of a relevant resolution at the UN General Assembly is expected.
