Yuri Kobzar19:34, 05/17/23

Russia has legalized war crimes expressly prohibited by the UN.

The State Duma allowed the deportation of Ukrainians from the occupied territories, thereby “legitimizing” war crimes. 

So, today Russian deputies adopted in the second reading adopted amendments to the law “On martial law”, which allow forcibly evicting people from territories where martial law has been introduced. Currently, the Russian occupation authorities have introduced a martial law regime in all the occupied territories of Ukraine, except for Crimea. 

At the end of April, Vladimir Putin already signed a decree on the deportation from the occupied territories of those who did not receive a Russian passport. The new norm is introduced at the level of law, not a decree, and provides for more stringent measures.

It should be noted that the deportation of the population from the occupied territories is expressly prohibited by Art. 49 of the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949. Thus, in Russia one of the war crimes has been introduced into the norm at the level of law.

Deportation of Ukrainians by Russian invaders

In May, the OSCE published a report in which it confirmed the fact of targeted mass deportations of Ukrainians arranged by the Russian occupiers. In particular, the mass deportation of children was confirmed, which “clearly violates” the rights and legitimate interests of Ukrainian children.

At the end of May, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide. PACE also approved an arrest warrant for Putin, which was issued by the International Criminal Court in March.

(C)UNIAN 2023