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The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced on Monday, February 28, his intention to open an investigation into crimes committed in Ukraine. In December 2020, his office concluded that crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed on the territory of Ukraine since the start of the conflict in February 2014. But so far, no investigation has taken place. been opened.
From our correspondent in The Hague, Stéphanie Maupas
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The investigation will focus on crimes committed by all parties to the conflict and throughout the territory of Ukraine, the prosecutor said in this statement.
As Kiev is not a member of the Court, Karim Khan must nevertheless obtain the approval of the judges for such an investigation. Unless, and this is what the prosecutor suggests in his press release, one of the 123 Member States of the Court seizes it. In this case, he could immediately start his investigations, without waiting for the green light from the judges. Neither Ukraine nor Russia are members of the Court.
But Kyiv had given the ICC jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed on its territory since February 2014, shortly before the fall of Viktor Yanukovych, the former Ukrainian president close to the Kremlin. So far, no investigation has been opened, for lack of means had justified the prosecutor’s office.
Karim Khan calls, moreover, for an additional budget, voluntary contributions and the secondment of staff to his office. He once again called for respect for international humanitarian law.
