European Union member states advocated Friday for increased judicial cooperation with international courts such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure that war crimes in Ukraine are prosecuted and to ensure that there is no impunity for war crimes.
In joint conclusions, the EU-27 are committed to promoting joint investigations and allowing «close judicial cooperation» with international courts and other investigative mechanisms such as the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine established by the UN Human Rights Council.
They also note the commitment to support the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office to strengthen its capacity to investigate international crimes, as well as to increase cooperation with actors such as Europol or Eurojust, in addition to the EU military mission in Ukraine, for this purpose.
On the national side, the EU insists on the creation of units specialized in international crimes, ensuring their operational capacity and financial sustainability, so that they can contribute to the investigation and prosecution of such crimes at the national level.
Likewise, the countries of the bloc demand the participation of the victims, as well as their protection and support, and ask to generate the opportunity for Ukrainian refugees in the EU to provide their testimony as victims or witnesses of international crimes.
The conclusions call for all member states to apply the definition of international crimes contained in the Rome Statute, which provides for aggression as a crime to be prosecuted, but its definition was not endorsed by all parties, preventing them from exercising jurisdiction over it.
The European Commission proposed a few weeks ago that «without ceasing to support the ICC», progress should be made towards the creation of a «specialized court» supported by the United Nations, a measure that European sources indicate that this initiative is not ruled out and is being discussed within the EU’s foreign policy.
