(The Hague) The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on Monday the opening “as soon as possible” of an investigation into the situation in Ukraine, citing “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity “.
Posted at 3:24 p.m.
“I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to believe that alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine,” ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement.
Mr Khan had last week expressed “increasing concern” over recent developments in Ukraine, calling on the parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law.
“Given the expansion of the conflict in recent days, I intend that this investigation also encompass all new alleged crimes within the jurisdiction of my Office that are committed by any party to the conflict on any part of the territory of Ukraine”, underlined Mr. Khan.
Ukraine has not signed the Rome Statute, the international treaty founding the ICC, but it has formally recognized the Court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed on its territory.
Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, said in December 2020 that a “wide range of behavior constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity” had been committed in Ukraine since 2014, calling for a full investigation.