LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Justice ministers from around the world will gather in London to scale up the support being offered to the International Criminal Court in its investigations of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, the British government said on Saturday.
The meeting in March, which will be hosted by UK Justice Secretary Dominic Raab and his Dutch counterpart Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, will be attended by ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, according to a statement.
“Almost a year on from the illegal invasion, the international community must give its strongest backing to the ICC so war criminals can be held to account for the atrocities we’re witnessing,” said Raab, who is also Britain’s deputy prime minister.
The meeting will seek to increase the global financial and practical support to the ICC and coordinate efforts to ensure it has all it needs to carry out investigations and prosecute those responsible, the statement said.
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Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation”, has denied targeting civilians and other war crimes. Ukraine and the West argue that Russia has no reason to justify an imperial-style war of occupation.
Britain has consistently supported Ukraine, giving Kyiv her £2.3 billion ($2.78 billion) military aid.
Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged artillery fire on the Ukrainian frontline on Friday. Despite orders from the Russian government to cease firing due to a unilateral ceasefire, Kyiv refused.
The ICC Khan launched an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine last year. According to legal experts, the Court of Aggression’s jurisdiction only applies to member states and countries that have agreed to its jurisdiction, such as Ukraine, not Russia. Moscow does not recognize courts.
“For us it is clear:
These crimes must not go unpunished,” said Yesirgoz Zegerius, who said the reports and images from Ukraine were “horrible.”
