kareem
Special Briefing
2019Mwatana for Human Rights welcomes the International Criminal Court’s (“ICC”) arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova for their alleged involvement in war crimes committed in Ukraine. This significant action coincides with the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war. Mwatana commends this first step towards justice for victims in Ukraine. The ICC’s warrants send a strong message that those allegedly responsible for crimes under international law in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world cannot evade justice, including those at the highest levels of political and military leadership.
Mwatana urges the ICC to ensure a similar commitment across its mandate to combat impunity for the most serious crimes under international law, including those committed during the ongoing war in Yemen. In 2019, Mwatana for Human Rights, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, and other partners submitted a Communication on Yemen to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. This joint Communication calls on the ICC to investigate the legal responsibility of European corporate and political actors in alleged war crimes committed by the Saudi/UAE-led military coalition in Yemen.
"The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague should give due consideration to the Communication on Yemen-related war crimes submitted in 2019," Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, emphasized. She also urged the international community to fulfil its part in the fight against impunity by establishing a UN-mandated independent international criminally-focused investigative mechanism for Yemen that will work to hold accountable all those responsible for international crimes committed during more than eight years of war and ensure reparations for all victims in Yemen.
