Council of Europe urges establishment of a tribunal to try Russian and Belarusian leaders
The Council of Europe has called for the establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute Russian and Belarusian leadership, which has been blamed for the war in Ukraine. According to the resolution, some of Russia's actions against civilians in Ukraine "could fit" the definition of "genocide" under the 1948 international convention, Digi24 reported.
With 100 votes in favour and one abstention, the representatives of the Council of Europe's 46 member states adopted a resolution which targets, without naming them, civilian and military leaders who "planned, prepared, launched or carried out" aggression against Ukraine.
The PACE decision suggests that if this war had not been started, the destruction, damage and casualties in Ukraine could have been avoided.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called for the establishment of a tribunal involving many states and international structures, including the United Nations.
The PACE meeting also hopes for "political support" for the project from the summit of Council of Europe heads of state and government in Reykjavik, Iceland, in May.
The Council of Europe is made up of a number of EU member countries and former Soviet republics such as Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The European Parliament, which brings together the 27 EU member states, adopted a similar text last week by 472 votes to 19 with 33 abstentions.
The International Criminal Court, sitting in The Hague, has jurisdiction only over war crimes and crimes against humanity, but not over "crimes of aggression" as Moscow, Minsk and Kiev are not signatories to the treaty.
The Resolution also highlights that some of Russia's actions in Ukraine against civilians, in particular killings and forced relocations of children for the purpose of their Russianisation, "could fall" under the definition of "genocide" under the 1948 international Convention.
