15 November 2016, Tuesday, 12:18 133

Crimea Situation Amounts To Armed Conflict Between Ukraine And Russia – ICC

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The International Criminal Court (seated in the Hague, the Netherlands) opines that the situation in the Russia-occupied Crimea amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukrainian News Agency learned this from ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s Report on Preliminary Examination Activities published on November 14.

The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICC examined Ukraine’s declaration for the investigation into this situation.

The information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government,” the Report reads.

The law of international armed conflict would continue to apply after 18 March 2014 to the extent that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol factually amounts to an on-going state of occupation.

A determination of whether or not the initial intervention which led to the occupation is considered lawful or not is not required, the ICC opines

For purposes of the Rome Statute an armed conflict may be international in nature if one or more States partially or totally occupies the territory of another State, whether or not the occupation meets with armed resistance.

Some 179 persons deprived of their liberty have reportedly been forcibly transferred from prisons in Crimea to prisons in the territory of the Russian Federation. As a consequence of the imposed change of citizenship, men of conscription age residing in Crimea became subject to mandatory Russian military service requirements, the OTP said.

The Prosecutor has decided to continue gathering evidence on this situation next year.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Ukraine on September 8, 2015 notified the ICC about recognition of its jurisdiction concerning commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes by Russia's high ranking officials and chieftains of the terrorist organisations "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR) and "Luhansk People's Republic" (LPR) that led to particularly grave consequences and mass killings of Ukrainian citizens.