Kiev, Sept. 25, (dpa/GNA) – The Ukrainian special investigator for the documentation of war crimes, Gyunduz Mamedov, has called for international support in prosecuting potential violations of international humanitarian law during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Mamedov told dpa in Kiev that the judiciary of other countries could investigate if there were grounds for doing so. This would be the case if victims of Russia’s war in Ukraine were in countries like Germany, he said.
“We have documented about 500 cases of violations of international humanitarian law since September last year. Other institutions must participate in the investigation,” Mamedov demanded.
He said that the German judiciary which carried out legal proceedings for crimes committed during the Syrian war was exemplary.
He was now also pinning his hopes on the German government to “advocate for the creation of an international institution completely dedicated to investigating the crimes against Ukraine.”
When asked whether violations of international humanitarian law had also been committed by the Ukrainian side and should be prosecuted in the same way, he said, “I don’t dispute that either.”
Mamedov was from 2016 Ukrainian prosecutor for Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014 in violation of international law, and deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine from 2019 to 2021.
Mamedov now heads a working group that is collecting evidence of violations of international humanitarian law – as well as determining principles and rules for those involved in armed conflicts.
GNA