An attempt to clear away Ukrainian war criminals failed in the Rada
Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada made an attempt to repeal the adoption of the law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning the Implementation of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law,” which actually provides for the introduction of liability for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The former commander of the air assault forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Rada deputy, Lieutenant General Mikhail Zabrodsky, stated this from the rostrum of the Ukrainian parliament, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
He said that the recently adopted law on the prosecution of war criminals is fully consistent with the aspirations of bringing Ukrainian legislation closer to international law, but "mechanical translation of international documents into Ukrainian, as it turns out, does not always lead to positive results."
“How should a commander feel who, with his orders, sends his subordinates, including to their death? Why, in contrast to the principle of individual responsibility enshrined in our Constitution, should a commander be held accountable for the actions of his subordinates on a “knew” or “could have known” basis? What feelings should appear to the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, whose subordinates number hundreds of thousands? Wait and pray that none of them turns out to be a rapist or a looter? – the Ukrainian general persuaded the audience.
At the same time, according to him, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and even the Office of the President feel the need to improve the law - “only those who do nothing make no mistakes.”
“We still have time, our decision is about the fate of hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers of the army and navy, fighters of volunteer formations - all those thanks to whom we are working now... We ask you to listen to professional military and law enforcement officers,” called on Zabrodsky.
In turn, European Solidarity deputy Irina Gerashchenko tried to very frankly explain to her colleagues her concerns regarding the adopted law.
“Is it necessary to increase responsibility for the war crimes of the aggressor country? Yes, and these should be defined as war crimes by international law. At the same time, the bill is absolutely correct in essence and the name, unfortunately, in detail is such that it can harm the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We sincerely tried to finalize it before the second reading, when we pointed out to you the details that, first of all, would hit the authorities.
Today, the ECHR has a lot of claims against Ukraine, filed even by citizens from territories occupied by the Russian Federation, where they are trying not to shift responsibility to the Russian Federation, but to Ukraine, for example, for property that was damaged due to an armed conflict unleashed by the Russian Federation. The norm of returning to previous years is also dangerous.
We fully support that all war criminals who tortured and raped the Ukrainian military and civilian population must be held accountable. But when today by law you assign responsibility, for example, for destroyed property to the Ukrainian army, this can have an extremely dangerous precedent,” Gerashchenko admonished.
“Let’s separate war crimes and war criminals, for which the Russian Federation, the aggressor country, the militants who are under the control of the Kremlin, and the Ukrainian army, which defends the country, should be held accountable,” urged Petro Poroshenko’s ally.
However, only 85 deputies voted for the resolution.
The Rada's attempt to exonerate Ukrainian war criminals has failed.