THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab mentioned on Monday Britain backed an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine “to the hilt”.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan mentioned he had opened a proper investigation into attainable atrocities on Ukrainian soil since 2014, when Moscow-based separatists seized a part of the nation’s far east.
“It is vital to get the deterrent message out to commanders on the floor in Ukraine and in Moscow that in the event that they commit war crimes they might find yourself not simply in the dock of a court docket in The Hague however in a jail cell,” Raab informed journalists in The Hague after assembly Khan.
He added that for this to be a reputable message, Britain and different nations wanted to supply the ICC “additional assist” to fulfil its mandate in Ukraine. He didn’t give specifics.
A British authorities assertion mentioned London was providing police and army evaluation and specialist IT assist to gather and protect proof for the ICC, in addition to authorized experience.
When he introduced the investigation, Khan mentioned his workplace was scrambling for sources and wanted every thing from investigators to forensic language specialists and psycho-social assist.
Raab additionally declined to say whether or not the sources to be supplied by Britain can be earmarked solely for Ukraine or whether or not they is also used for a few of the ICC’s 16 ongoing investigations and trials.
He rejected any suggestion that such monetary assist for a particular investigation may unbalance the court docket’s caseload.
“There are guidelines and provisions in place to keep away from any notion of bias. The court docket is completely unbiased,” he mentioned.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
