The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) welcomes the adoption by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) of two important resolutions: "Legal aspects and human rights issues in the context of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine" and "Support for political negotiations to ensure the exchange and release of prisoners of war." This is reported by UNN.
Details
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that these documents are another powerful evidence of PACE's uncompromising support for the fundamental principles of international law, the protection of human rights, the fight against impunity and solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression.
The resolution on the legal aspects of the Russian Federation's aggression is an important step towards ensuring accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine
In particular, the Ministry welcomed the "clear legal conclusions of the Assembly":
- recognition of the actions of Russia, Belarus and North Korea as an act of aggression;
- fixation of individual responsibility of the political and military leadership of these states;
- confirmation of the illegal occupation of Crimea and other Ukrainian territories as a gross violation of international law;
- recognition of deportations, torture, repression and enforced disappearances as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and in some cases as manifestations of genocide.
The Foreign Ministry called the PACE's strong support for the establishment of a Special Tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine within the Council of Europe, as well as the call for all member states to join the relevant Enlarged Partial Agreement, particularly important.
Ukraine also highly appreciates the Assembly's attention to the issue of reparations, in particular to the creation of a full-fledged international compensation mechanism and the proper role of the Register of Damage for Ukraine
They also stressed that the PACE resolution on political support for the exchange of prisoners of war, initiated by the Ukrainian delegation, was the first comprehensive document of the Assembly to record massive and systematic violations of the Third Geneva Convention by the Russian Federation.
The document confirms Russia's guilt for torture, executions, sexual violence, denial of ICRC access, and persecution of Ukrainian soldiers for participating in hostilities. The Assembly stresses the need to create a permanent mechanism for the exchange of prisoners of war with the involvement of neutral mediators and international organizations
The ministry called on the member states of the Council of Europe, observer states and international partners to actively promote the implementation of the resolutions, support the establishment of a Special Tribunal, join the compensation mechanism, increase sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation, and provide practical support to Ukraine's efforts to bring those responsible to justice and release all prisoners.
Recall
On the eve of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on Ukraine. It confirms that Crimea is Ukraine. No claims of the Russian Federation are recognized, even in the context of negotiations.
PACE also adopted a resolution condemning the ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners and calling for political negotiations for their release. 95% of Ukrainian soldiers returning from Russian captivity report torture, and in 2024 alone, 109 extrajudicial executions have been recorded.