ICC dismantling would destroy hope for justice – Ukraine’s victims and civil society

Ukrainian civil society organisations, experts, associations of victims and survivors, working on justice and accountability for crimes committed in the course of Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014, urged all states parties to the Rome Statute to stand up in defence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against undue pressure and sanctions.

The United States administration announced a campaign to “dismantle” the Court, including increased sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organisations, travel bans and visa revocations for ICC staff, and leveraging U.S. diplomacy and assistance to encourage ICC states parties to withdraw or oppose it. 

The signatories of the statement point out that this is not the first time the ICC has faced attacks and threats for doing the job that the international community, including Ukraine, has entrusted it with.

“The U.S. has already imposed sanctions against ICC officials and those cooperating with it, including the ICC Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutors, ICC judges, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and three Palestinian human rights NGOs. This unfortunately echoes the behaviour of the Russian Federation, where the ICC Prosecutor and eight judges were sentenced in absentia for doing their jobs,” the statement reads.

The civil society groups in Ukraine stated that this new campaign requires a united and principled response from all states.

They elaborated that such threats are unacceptable and will further erode victims’ rights and “hopes for justice in Ukraine and all over the world”.

“For years, civil society and victims in Ukraine have been pushing for both the Court to investigate and prosecute violations as per the jurisdiction accepted by the state, to ensure that victims can access a vital justice pathway. We have also been advocating for Ukraine to fully join the Rome Statute system and become a proper contributor to the system. The United States itself has been supporting the ICC’s work on the situation in Ukraine, particularly after the full-scale invasion”.

The civil society in Ukraine stressed that the ICC plays a unique role in the international justice ecosystem, ensuring that no one is above the law, especially the most powerful perpetrators. In fact, the ICC has issued arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin, Sergey Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, and other Russian top officials.

“Without the ICC, Ukraine’s justice system, even if supported by other mechanisms, including the future Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, cannot guarantee justice and redress for crimes of that scale and gravity. We know that the ICC is one of the last resorts, where victims have nowhere else to go.  We also know first-hand how impunity for past or ongoing grave crimes leads to the commission of more crimes in the future, in Ukraine and elsewhere,” civil society groups stated.

They are concerned that U.S. actions – and even threats thereof – may result in significant damage to the work of the Court, including disruption of operations, lack of support and cooperation from states, as well as disincentivisation of victims and CSOs to engage with the ICC.

They called on ICC states parties, as well as the European Union, to decisively stand up for the ICC and resist any attempt to undermine victims’ search for justice

• ICC States parties must act now by reaffirming their unconditional and principled support for the ICC and that they will cooperate with the ICC in all its operations, resisting any attempt to disrupt its work. 
• ICC States parties and regional actors, such as the EU, must establish tangible measures to mitigate the impact measures taken by the US, protect the ICC and those who engage with it, including the adoption of domestic and regional blocking statutes.
• ICC States parties should engage with the United States to ensure it revokes the announced campaign and does not act further against the ICC.

Ukrainian civil society organisations highlighted that for many victims and survivors in Ukraine and around the globe, the ICC represents the ultimate hope for justice. The international community must not allow political pressure and intimidation to destroy that hope.

Among signatories are such organisations and persons:

• Ukraine. 5AM Coalition, a coalition of 38 civil society organisations and 4 individual experts
• Tribunal for Putin (T4P) Initiative, an initiative with 30+ member organisations

Survivor-led organisations and survivor associations:

• NGO Way of Freeman 
• Davidenko Kostiantyn head of NGO “Civilians in captivity”
• Head of NGO “Warriors’ Liberation” Yepifanova Nataliia 
• NGO “Civil Freedoms,” led by Maria Viktorivna Sizyonova
• NGO “CIVILIAN PRISONERS” 
• Bogdan Yuriyovych Pervachuk
• Our Dearest Ones Family Association, Anna Mushtukova
• NGO “Military Medics of Ukraine” Viktoriia Ivchuk
• ALUMNI Network of Ukrainian Men Who Survived Captivity and Torture
• NGO “Ukrainian Movement RETURN FREEDOM”
• Larysa Shevandina
Co-organizer and Ambassador of the International Advocacy Campaign “SAVE UKRAINIAN CIVILIAN HOSTAGES TOGETHER”
Wife of civilian hostage Oleg Shevandin, who has been illegally held in Russian captivity since 2015
• SEMA Ukraine NGO, Iryna Dovgan
• The initiative group “Association of Families of Missing and Captured Personnel from the 72nd Mechanised Brigade and the 48th Special Rifle Battalion”, founded and coordinated by Nataliia Zelinska
• NGO “Numo, Sisters!”, Lyudmyla Huseynova 

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