Plenary session of Council of Europe calls for tribunal on war in Ukraine
In response to the war in Ukraine, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has unanimously called for the establishment of an international war crimes tribunal. The tribunal in The Hague should prosecute the political and military leaders of Russia and its ally Belarus who “planned, prepared, initiated or carried out” the war of aggression against Ukraine, the assembly said in Strasbourg on Thursday.
“Without their decision to wage this war of aggression against Ukraine, the resulting atrocities (…) and all the destruction, deaths and damage caused by the war, including lawful acts of war, would not have occurred,” the assembly declared . The plenary approved a resolution based on a report by Swiss MP Damien Cottier.
Such a tribunal should be “approved and supported by as many States and international organizations as possible, and in particular by the United Nations General Assembly,” the Parliamentary Assembly called for. The Council of Europe should take an active leadership role and provide concrete support, it said.