The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) recognized the deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to the territory of the Russian Federation as genocide and called on the ICC to consider the possibility of criminal prosecution for this crime. This was noted in resolution on April 27, 2023.
Source: The resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE
The resolution was supported by 87 votes.
Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, noted that the term genocide in relation to Russia’s actions was mentioned for the first time in an official document of this level.
“The Assembly underscores that the forcible transfer of children from one group to another group, with the intention to destroy, totally or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group is considered as a crime of genocide under Article 2 paragraph (e) of the 1948 Genocide Convention, which matches with the documented evidence of deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation or territories temporarily under Russian occupation,” states the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
In addition, the Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the decision of the International Criminal Court regarding the arrest warrant for the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights of the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova.
“The Assembly welcomes the International Criminal Court’s decision of 17 March 2023 to issue arrest warrants against the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the war crimes of unlawful deportation and transfer of populations, in particular children, from temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” noted the PACE resolution.
According to Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, this is one of the most important decisions of PACE in this resolution.
“Not all PACE members are countries that have ratified the Rome Statute. (The statute under which Putin’s arrest was issued). And the very adoption of this resolution expands the circle of countries where Putin is officially considered a suspect in war crimes. Putin is a wanted war criminal. Now this has been confirmed by PACE,” emphasized Oleksiy Goncharenko.
See also: PACE recognized the political regime of the Russian Federation as terrorist
