Mezentseva: The central event in PACE should be the debate on holding Russia accountable for the crime of aggression

The head of the Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to PACE, Maria Mezentseva, reported this in a comment to Ukrinform.

“We are convinced that the key moment of the April session of PACE should be the urgent debates proposed by our Romanian representative, the chairman of the political group ALDE Iulian Bulai. At the meeting of the conciliation council, he raised the most important issue – the inevitability of responsibility for Russia's aggression against Ukraine,” Mezentseva noted.

She added that it will become known on Monday whether the debates will take place and whether a corresponding decision will be made, after the approval of the agenda for the spring session, which will take place from April 7 to 11.

According to information from the PACE website, urgent debates will also be held on the situation in Georgia, the challenge to the credentials of the Georgian parliamentary delegation, the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul and the humanitarian blockade of Gaza.

“We are persistently seeking to ensure that the resolution on ensuring accountability for the crime of Russia's aggression is approved for discussion, but this will be confirmed on Monday at the end of the session, as it competes with four other issues,” Mezentseva added.

She noted that in the context of holding Russia accountable for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, it is extremely important to agree on a plan to create a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression.

“You may know that the final meeting of the countries supporting the tribunal has recently taken place – more than 40 countries, including the entire EU – and we hope that other states will join it. We are looking forward to the final documents developed by the working group, including the charter and rules of procedure, which will determine how the highest official and military leadership of Russia can be held accountable – about 20 people,” Mezentseva said.

She stressed that the creation of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression does not exclude the work of the International Criminal Court, which has already issued two arrest warrants – for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova.

Mezentseva noted that in the process of discussing and considering the issue of Russia's responsibility for crimes, the issue of creating an international compensation mechanism – the Register of Damages – will also be raised.

“We have opened offices together with the Registry Council in The Hague and Kyiv. In addition, six new categories have been added to the Registry (internal displacement; serious bodily harm; sexual violence; torture; unlawful detention (captivity); forced labor or service). Claims can now be submitted through the Diia app. Thus, the total number of claim categories has reached nine. The historic significance of the Registry of Damages is that for the first time, non-material losses will also be considered for compensation. As for its financial support, we continue to work on this, and we assume that Russian assets will be used for this purpose,” Mezentseva added.

She reported that more than 20,000 claims have already been submitted to the International Damage Register through the Diia app.

“We encourage everyone to apply. You can do this regardless of whether you have already received compensation from the Ukrainian state. You can also apply for several categories at the same time – for example, having a relative in captivity and loss of beauty. These categories are not mutually exclusive,” she noted.

The PACE spring session will also feature an art exhibition dedicated to Ukrainian cities destroyed by the Russian army. In addition, a special event will be held dedicated to the problem of the return of abducted Ukrainian children.

On 4 February, legal experts from the European Commission, the Council of Europe, Ukraine and 37 other countries presented the first draft statute of an international Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, the result of the work of a core group of experts in Brussels.

Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the Council of the ERs, Borys Tarasyuk, predicts that the vote on a joint agreement between Ukraine and the Council of the ERs, which will form the basis for the Special Tribunal, and the establishment of the tribunal itself, will most likely take place in May 2025.