(Ottawa) Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada will help investigate sexual violence committed by Russian troops against women and girls in Ukraine.
Posted yesterday at 11:47 p.m.
Speaking in Ottawa after talks with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, Ms.me Joly said Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers involved in the investigation of war crimes in Ukraine will help collect evidence of rape and sexual violence by the Russian military.
Mme Joly recalled that Canada provided 10 RCMP officers to help collect evidence of possible war crimes in Ukraine that could be used in a case before the International Criminal Court.
She said she believed there was “strong evidence of genocide” against the Ukrainian people by Russia.
Canadian MPs have already symbolically voted to label Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian civilians as genocide.
The two foreign ministers expressed concern that sexual violence against women was being used by Russia as a weapon of war in Ukraine, saying such crimes should be brought to light.
They said specialist support was needed for Ukrainian women and girls fleeing to neighboring countries who may have been raped and abused.
Mme Linde added that Sweden was at the forefront of investigating war crimes against civilians, including sexual violence against women.
The Scandinavian country has already sent “sex and gender crime investigation experts” to help the International Criminal Court in its war crimes investigation. They interview refugees, “mainly women, girls and children”, as witnesses.
Speaking after talks with his Swedish counterpart, Mme Joly reiterated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s support for Sweden joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Mme Linde specified that Sweden wanted “security guarantees” from other NATO countries if it applied to join the military alliance, in case there was retaliation from Russia. Russia already engages in disinformation campaigns, including falsely labeling Swedish figures as Nazis, she said.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s designated ambassador to Canada said Russia must be held accountable for sex crimes committed by its troops, including against children.
Yulia Kovaliv told MPs on a House of Commons committee that Russia was using sexual violence as a weapon of war. She explained that Ukraine was gathering “horrible documented evidence” of war crimes, including sex crimes committed by Russian soldiers.