Fri. Nov 22nd, 2024

The Hague, 5 July 2022

Together with the International Criminal Court and the European Commission, the Netherlands will co-host a ministerial conference on accountability for Ukraine at the World Forum in The Hague on 14 July. The ultimate purpose of the conference is to ensure that war crimes committed during the war in Ukraine will not go unpunished. In order to prevent impunity, it is important to further strengthen and coordinate the various efforts by the international community.

To ensure that this collective work responds effectively to the legitimate demands of survivors and their families for justice, the Netherlands has taken the initiative to engage with the relevant parties and countries on how to align activities in the area of investigation and prosecution. The Conference will provide the opportunity for States and other partners to present their efforts and detail a plan for collective action to ensure that gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law do not go unpunished. The parties concerned will explore a range of opportunities for cooperation, including coordination of action with respect to conducting forensic investigation in Ukraine under the aegis of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

At the conference the ICC and Eurojust will also present guidelines for gathering and storing of evidence by national authorities as well as guidance to strengthen collaboration with non-governmental organisations. This will help ensure that actions on the ground in Ukraine can ultimately contribute to criminal proceedings at national and international level. Particular attention will be paid to evidence of sexual violence and ensuring that victims are not unnecessarily traumatised in the evidence-gathering process.

The outcomes of this Conference can also lay the foundation for improved coordination and accountability for atrocities that have occurred in other situations around the world.

Ministers of Foreign Affairs and ministers of Justice of 26 countries will take part in the conference, including Ukrainian minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba. The conference will conclude with a press conference during which Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra, minister Kuleba, Prosecutor of the ICC Karim A.A. Khan QC, and European Commissioner Didier Reynders will announce and explain the results.

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