Debate: Children forcibly deported from Ukraine and the ICC arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin
Date: WEDNESDAY, 19 APRIL 2023
Speaker: Věra Jourová
Language: EN

On 17 March this year, the Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights for the war crime of unlawful forced deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation. The fact that the Court singled out the acts of unlawful forced deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children as the war crimes, as a base for the first arrest warrants since the start of the Russian invasion, illustrates both the urgency and severity rightly attached to the issue. Using the pretext of evacuation, Russia has started forcibly transferring and deporting Ukrainian children from non-government controlled territories of Ukraine to Russia just before the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The acts of deportation, or forcible transfer of children, have been reported by several international and Ukrainian organisations, including the International Commission of Inquiry, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Bureau in Russia and the National Information Bureau of Ukraine. While the number of forcibly deported or transferred Ukrainian children varies according to the source, the National Information Bureau of Ukraine has received information of over 16 000 children concerned, as of last Friday. The scale is, in other words, massive. The Hague Conference on Private International Law, of which Russia is a member, has issued a statement recalling that international and national adoption procedures for children citizens of Ukraine, shall not be carried out in any country of the world during the duration of martial law in Ukraine, without due regard to the legislation of Ukraine or pending the approval of the Ukrainian authorities. UNICEF has issued a similar statement and Ukraine has suspended its inter-country adoption programme until further notice in light of the Russian war of aggression. Adoption as a consequence of illegal deportation is a crime and shall not be tolerated. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ office in Russia and the independent Russian TV channel Dozhd have also identified Ukrainian orphans in Russian orphanages, some of which submit the children to the so-called military and patriotic education. The incidents identified by the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor to base the arrest warrants on include the deportation of at least hundreds of children taken from orphanages and children’s care homes. In many cases, adoption of these children by Russians has allegedly followed. The prosecutor alleges that these acts, amongst others, demonstrate an intention to permanently remove these children from their own country. At the time of these deportations, the Ukrainian children were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Court also underlined that most acts in this pattern of deportations were carried out in the context of the acts of aggression committed by Russian military forces against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, which began already in 2014. As a result of the issuance of the arrest warrants, the International Criminal Court may transmit a request for the arrest and surrender of the suspects to any state of the territory of which those persons may be found and shall request the cooperation of that state in the arrest and surrender of the suspects. States Parties to the Court, including all EU Member States, have an obligation to comply with requests for arrest and surrender. Russia’s public reaction to these arrest warrants has further exemplified its blatant disrespect towards the international rules-based order. The EU has already publicly noted the arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, and welcomed and encouraged all further efforts to ensure full accountability for war crimes and the most serious crimes in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, towards the enforcement of international justice. We will continue our support to the International Criminal Court. Since the start of this horrific war, the Commission has provided over EUR 10 million to the Court to strengthen its investigation and prosecution capacities. We are also dedicated to support national investigations opened into international crimes committed in Ukraine. In particular, the Commission has extended the mandate of Eurojust to collect and store evidence and strengthened it to be well equipped to support the joint investigation team uniting Ukraine and six EU Member States, in which the Court’s Office of the Prosecutor participates as well. Eurojust is competent to coordinate criminal investigations and prosecutions of individuals in cases where the deportation or transfer of population amounts to international crimes. Following the request by the Office of the Prosecutor, competent national authorities participating in the joint investigation team have already shared information and evidence on deportations of children and can continue to do so in the future. This is crucial for case-building, such as regarding the cases against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova. The chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, acknowledged that the participation of his office in the team, under the auspices of Eurojust, has facilitated the swift coordination on relevant information and evidence. Established in the framework of the joint investigation team and hosted by Eurojust, the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine will provide a structure to coordinate investigations and exchange relevant evidence relating to the crime of aggression. With the prompt support of the European Parliament, the regulation on Eurojust has been amended, which allowed the agency to set up a database to store and analyse evidence of international crimes committed in Ukraine. And we work closely with the Office of the Prosecutor General in Ukraine, including to make sure they have all means at their disposal to conduct the investigations. Honourable Members, the EU also imposed sanctions against 16 individuals responsible for the deportation and forced adoption of Ukrainian children from areas occupied by Russian forces since 2022, including Maria Lvova-Belova. The EU continues its efforts to identify perpetrators for possible further measures. Looking ahead, we remain fully committed to make all efforts to ensure that those responsible for the crime of unlawful forced deportation or transfer of Ukrainian children are held accountable and that the children of Ukraine are returned safely to their families and communities. In March 2023, President von der Leyen announced a joint European Commission-Poland initiative, in partnership with Ukraine, aiming at bringing back these children. The starting point will be a conference to pull together international pressure to take all possible measures to establish the whereabouts of these children and bring them back home. According to the Ukrainian Children of War platform, only 361 children have so far returned to Ukraine. In this light, the EU supports the mandate of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict to engage with Ukraine and Russia on the issue of deportation and children and child protection. We hope that information and data on Ukrainian children and their status can be swiftly established and a returns mechanism instigated. As always, we will keep the well-being and best interests of the children at the forefront of all our actions. Honourable Members, thank you very much for your attention.