The ongoing war in Ukraine has confronted the world with scenes that mankind has been struggling hard to leave in the past but unfortunately keep coming back. The images of bodies of civilians shot dead, lying on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, are an undeniable evidence that war crimes have been committed in this war and that all limits of humanity have been crossed.
The only way for justice to be brought to the victims of these crimes – the direct victims, and especially their families and the communities where they live – and for Rule of Law to prevail in the middle of the chaos that war always represents is to have an independent, accurate and thorough investigation of all the crimes that have been committed and that were brought before the world in the terrible images seen in the last days.
The perpetrators of such horrendous acts must be held accountable, tried and convicted under a due process – only the asymmetry between the due process of law guaranteed to them and the inhumane acts they have carried out will reaffirm the commitment of the entire world to the respect for human rights.
That will be the only way to ensure that the world will keep fighting for these situations never to happen again and does not step back from a path it started walking after the horrors of the 20th century.
We owe it not only to the victims of this war, but also to all the victims of the conflicts that made mankind wake up to the need for the respect for human rights. Above all, we owe it to future generations, so that they don’t have to live through this again.
MEDEL – Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés:
- urges the United Nations, through international judicial bodies, to conduct a thorough and accurate investigation of the war crimes committed in the ongoing war in Ukraine;
- affirms its full availability to assist and cooperate with that investigation.
04 April 2022