The top prosecutor at the ICC says there is a 'reasonable basis to believe' that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine, as he announced the Court would open a formal investigation 'as rapidly as possible.'
Karim Ahmed Khan, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor, speaks during a news conference at the Ministry of Justice in the Khartoum, Sudan, last August. The International Criminal Court's prosecutor has put combatants and their commanders on notice that he is monitoring Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"Given the expansion of the conflict in recent days, it is my intention that this investigation will also encompass any new alleged crimes falling within the jurisdiction of my Office that are committed by any party to the conflict on any part of the territory of Ukraine,"The new investigation will build on preliminary research by the ICC examining the possibility of war crimes in Ukraine since late 2013.
Soon after, Russia illegally annexed Crimea and armed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The long-running conflict between the Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas had killed more than 14,000 people as of the start of this year.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia are parties to the statute that created the ICC, though the prosecutor said the court has jurisdiction to investigate because Ukraine has accepted ICC jurisdiction in the past.
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