On 19 December 2016, Hon. Hryhoriy Nemyria, MP, Chair of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic Relations of the Parliament of Ukraine and Chair of PGA’s National Group, hosted a roundtable on the implementation of the Rome Statute in the national legal order.

During the discussions, Hon. Nemyria stressed that:

Amid the undeclared war, the issue of the Rome Statute ratification and close cooperation with the International Criminal Court is not just a matter of justice, it concerns establishment of peace in our country.

The real peace is impossible without justice, and justice is impossible when the people responsible for crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression stay unpunished.

The expert discussions also centered on the progress made towards the assessments of the ICC regarding the crimes allegedly committed during the Euromaidan protests and the armed conflict in the Donbas region, alongside the creation of cooperation mechanisms with the Court.

This session at the Committee on Human rights, National Minorities and Interethnic Relations represents the continuity of the work carried out by PGA within the framework of its Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC for the Effectiveness and Universality of the Rome Statute. Indeed, PGA has conducted two field missions in Ukraine on 3-5 February 2016 and 12-14 July 2016, in order to encourage exchanges with all relevant stakeholders, as well as to assess and overcome the obstacles to the ratification and full implementation of the Rome Statute.

At the 9^th Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Rule of Law (CAP-ICC), Hon. Nemyria shared the experience of his country in the high-level panel on Moving towards an international Rule of Law: The Universal Ratification and Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in the presence of the president of the ICC, Judge Silvia Fernandez, as well as the ICC prosecutor, Ms. Fatou Bensouda. During his stay in Dakar, Hon. Nemyria had the opportunity to exchange with the prosecutor on the preliminary results of the study done by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) on the alleged crimes committed in Ukraine from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014 and those committed since 20 February 2014.

The OTP’s preliminary examination started with Ukraine’s acceptance of the ICC’s jurisdiction by way of a declaration under Article 12(3) of the Rome on 17 April 2014 and 8 September 2015; step that was undertaken in pursuance to a Resolution adopted by a large majority of Parliamentarians in the Rada.

The participants to the 19 December event, were informed by Mr. Serhiy Gorbatyuk, Head of the Department of special investigations of the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), that because of a recent reform at the PGO, less human resources were allocated to these matters. Some Ukrainian Members of Parliament denounced the government for failing to protect the civilians in annexed Crimea and in the occupied Donbas hence the delay in the Rome Statute ratification, in the presence of Mr. Alexander Giranko, Acting director of the Department of International Law at the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as Ms. Oleksandra Matviychuk and Mr. Vitaly Nabukhotnyi, respectively from the Center for Civil Liberties and the Regional Center for Human Rights.

The ratification of the Rome Statute by Ukraine would be a crucial step in the fight against impunity for international crimes in the region as well as a show of commitment in compliance with the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement.