The opening of the investigation into Ukraine was made possible by the request of 42 ISS member states.
The opening of the International Criminal Court's investigation into Ukraine is not a Ukrainian merit, said expert in international criminal law, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine in 2019-2021 Гюндуз Мамедов.
“Or that otherwise it would have happened without the ratification of the Rome Statute (Rome). Thus, although the Ukrainian authorities together with human rights activists have made great efforts since 2016 to establish work with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and send evidence of serious crimes committed by Russia (including war crimes, crimes against humanity, aggression and genocide), it is important to be honest to recognize – the opening of the investigation into Ukraine was made possible by the request of 42 member countries of the ISS “, – said Mammadov in ZN.UA.
He added that the possibility of to ratify and avoid additional procedures before opening an investigation in these countries was due to the ratification of the RS. Unfortunately, the unprecedented number of countries appealing to the ISS on the situation in Ukraine was made possible by a new phase of aggression launched by Putin and other members of Russia's top leadership on February 24.
“ Without these circumstances, the ratification of the Rome Statute was one of the key conditions for further progress in the case “, – he stressed.
< Read also: Almost 400 Russian war crimes documented in Ukraine - Mammadov
Despite the fact that Kyiv has committed itself under the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU to ratify the Rome Statute, the Ukrainian authorities still did not. Why? How can this affect the international investigation of crimes committed by the Russian military in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kherson, Bucha, Borodyanka, Irpen, Chernihiv, Volnovakha and many other Ukrainian cities and villages? Answers to these and other questions – in an interview with ZN.UA Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine in 2019-2021 Gunduz Mammadov “ Why our country needs to ratify the Rome Statute “.
