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PGA congratulates the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine) for its Nobel Peace Prize

The Center for Civil Liberties has been the most credible, consistent, and coherent voice in support of all human rights for all in Ukraine since the peaceful Euromaidan revolution of 2014. Since 2017, PGA and CCL entered into a joint partnership with the European Commission that resulted in the organization of the 10th Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Rule of Law in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in November 2018 and the adoption of a law to implement international crimes and general principles (Law no. 1164-IX) contained in the Rome Statute of the ICC in Ukrainian Law in May 2021. However, for unknown reasons, the law was never promulgated by the President of Ukraine and was replaced by revised legislation (based on Law 1164-IX) and still awaits the adoption by the Rada.

courtesty of RSI Swiss Radio and Television (in italiano)

Right after the Russian Federation’s large-scale invasion, the Center for Civil Liberties united its efforts with many other Ukrainian NGOs to create the initiative “A Tribunal for Putin,” aiming to assist prosecutorial and fact-finding mechanisms in collecting and preserving evidence of atrocity crimes allegedly committed in the context of the war of aggression. Together with the “5 AM Coalition” of Ukrainian NGOs, “A Tribunal for Putin” is now leading the way toward the most appropriate and effective sanction against the gravest violation of International Law that we are facing in the Northern Hemisphere in this century, i.e., the crime of aggression and the other egregious crimes that the illegal war has been unleashing. Such an ultimate sanction is the prosecution of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Federation and the affirmation of the principle of individual criminal responsibility, as only the individualization of guilt may open the path for a just peace and a collective process of reconciliation amongst peoples, communities and, ultimately, States.

PGA Board Member and Treasurer Ms. Petra Bayr (MP, Austria; member, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) recalled the longstanding cooperation between PGA and CCL:

  • Ms. Petra Bayr

    • As early as in December 2015, we met with our CCL colleagues in Kyiv to discuss the constitutional reform of Article 124 that would have allowed Ukraine to become a State Party to the Rome Statute of the ICC. Thanks to CCL’s invaluable assistance, we could understand the complexities and contradictions characterizing the Ukrainian political groups and work together with the most respected and law-abiding Parliamentarians in the Verkhovna Rada from several political groups. Ultimately, the constitutional reform was adopted in June 2016; however, it suffered from a transitional provision that postponed its entry into force until mid-2019, when Ukraine was already in the middle of an electoral campaign.

    Thanks to the partnership with CCL, PGA provided briefings on the imperative to fight impunity for international crimes to all the main political parties standing for the 2019 elections, including the new Servant of the Peoples Party, which committed to join the ICC. After the elections, Parliamentarians have been actively working on this priority, but the Executive has not followed through. As of today, Ukraine is not yet a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, even if it has accepted the ad hoc jurisdiction of the Court twice during the previous Legislature following relevant parliamentary resolutions. On behalf of PGA in June 2022, Ms. Bayr handed a letter addressed to President Zelenskyy to the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Ms. Mariia Mezentseva, asking for prompt ratification of the Rome Statute.

    On 4 June 2022, the Executive Committee of PGA met in New York and decided to attribute the Defender of Democracy Award 2022 to Oleksandra Matviichuk, the President of CCL. The Award will be delivered in Buenos Aires during PGA’s 43rd Annual Forum and 12th Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Rule of Lawon 4 November 2022. The organization will also recognize two other personalities with this Award: a human rights defender and forensics expert from Argentina and a democracy activist, opposition leader, and columnist recently convicted of high treason in a politically motivated trial in the Russian Federation.