Last week, the world saw clearly the destructive role of Russia in attempts to resolve the Syrian crisis. The Kremlin’s actions in Syria were described in precisely these terms at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, held late on September 25. Let us recall that since truce collapsed a week ago, number of those killed due to Syrian and Russian air strikes in Aleppo has risen to 213 people, some of them children, and a humanitarian convoy headed to Aleppo was destroyed as well.
US Permanent Representative to the UN Samantha Power called Russia’s actions in Syria “barbarism” as opposed to “counter-terrorism.” “Instead of helping get lifesaving aid to civilians, Russia and Assad are bombing the humanitarian convoys and hospitals,” she stressed. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also described use of bunker-busting bombs in Aleppo as “barbarism” and called on governments that can make a difference to end the nightmare.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned Russia and Iran against taking part in the crimes of Bashar Assad’s regime, and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called for an investigation of Russia’s involvement in bombing a UN humanitarian convoy in Syria.
Volodymyr Yelchenko / REUTERS photo
Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko said in his speech that the available information on the use of incendiary weapons and powerful munitions such as bunker-busting bombs in the ongoing war around Aleppo further demonstrated the destructive role of Russia in it. He stressed that “the actions taken by the Syrian regime and its allies undermine all the principles of international humanitarian law and basic principles of humanity.”
In his turn, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin, as usual, accused the US of non-compliance with the conditions of the truce.
Meanwhile, representatives of the rebel groups said they refused to accept Russia as a mediator in the conflict since the Kremlin “was an accomplice of the regime in its crimes” against the people of Syria.
The Day asked Doctor of Law, Professor, former Ukrainian representative with the International Court of Justice Volodymyr VASYLENKO to tell us, how the international community ought to act in this situation to hold Russia accountable for its crimes?
“UKRAINE SHOULD INSIST ON CREATING AN ANTI-PUTIN COALITION THAT WOULD IMPOSE COLLECTIVE SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA”
“First of all, the West should strengthen sanctions against Russia because of its gross contempt for international law, displayed in various circumstances. It should also emphasize that these have been globally important violations, expressions of contempt for the international community which have been committed to achieve aggressive goals that violate the interests of all the nations.
“Therefore, the international community should make efforts to tighten sanctions against Russia so as to force it to respect international law and to restore international order. All this must be done in conjunction with the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
“In my view, Ukraine should emphasize the aggressive behavior of Russia and insist on creating an anti-Putin coalition that would impose collective sanctions on Russia. This cannot be done through the UN Security Council because of Russia’s veto power, but the consideration of this issue can be moved to the UN General Assembly. Accordingly, it may condemn Russia’s actions and decide on sanctions. However, any decision of the General Assembly would be advisory in nature, but such recommendations are permissive, and in particular, provide grounds for lawful use of coercion against a state which ignores international law and violates international legal order.
“In this situation, I can think of nothing else. On the other hand, Ukraine, taking care of its own interests, should strengthen its national sanctions against Russia and break trade relations with it as cleanly as possible. Currently, the Ukrainian government does not take systematic action to counter the Russian aggression, relying only on diplomatic methods and negotiations in the framework of the Normandy Quartet. All the while, our government is absolutely wasting the opportunities for employing more effective means offered by international law. For example, it still has not established a national coordinating body, which would be preparing a consolidated claim on the aggressor state. This body would systematically deal with the problem of the Russia sanctions and coordinate the activities of all government departments.
“We have a lot of facts that confirm the reality of armed aggression against Ukraine, but they are not recorded properly, so that we could take advantage of them later. Besides the facts of Russia’s armed aggression, we need to collect and compile all data related to the damages caused by it in Ukraine. We need to assess the amounts of the damages and demand compensation of these losses from Russia. We are also not working on recording the war crimes and crimes against humanity that are being committed by the Russian Armed Forces on Ukrainian soil, both in Crimea and in eastern Ukraine. However, it is important work that should be done to provide us evidence to be presented to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Remember, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recognized the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICC regarding the situation which had arisen as a result of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
“All the talk about the need to strip Russia of its veto power is for nothing, because it is not possible unless the UN Charter is changed. Meanwhile, the only way to achieve this is by recording all the crimes that Russia has committed in the international arena, starting with the First and Second Chechen Wars, during which Russia grossly violated its international obligations, totally destroyed Grozny, and committed genocide against the Chechen people. After that, Russia carried out aggression against Georgia in 2008, and Ukraine in 2014; we must now add to this list Russia’s actions in Syria, not to mention illegally stationing troops in Transnistria and dismembering Georgia.
“Within a historically very short time period, Russia committed a lot of international crimes, and this fact should be our starting point. This should be the basis for creating an anti-Putin coalition, like the anti-Hitler coalition was created once. Only this can bring results. Moreover, it all should end in a second Nuremberg Tribunal. But this time, those accused should be not German criminals, but Russian ones, including Vladimir Putin. And this can be achieved even without the use of armed force, just by applying economic, diplomatic, and political means of coercion. If NATO and EU member nations find political will, they can take measures to force Russia to do the will of the international community and respect international law.”
