Amnesty International’s Report on Russia’s war crimes against Ukraine

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Amnesty International, in its most recently published report detailing War Crimes and other humanitarian violations committed during Russia’s siege of Ukraine, vehemently deplored the forced deportations of Ukrainian civilians by Russia into Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories or further into inland Russia.

As per the Report, civilians from the war-prone areas of Ukraine are being forcibly removed and transferred hundreds of miles away from their homes via an “abusive screening process” called “The Filtration” consisting of arbitrary detention, torture, child and familial separation amongst a myriad of elusive atrocities languishing in the dark. Once transferred, they are forced to adopt Russian citizenship.

Amnesty has labelled such actions to be “War Crimes”, in direct contravention of Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in the light of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. Article 8(2)(a) of the aforementioned statute renders a variety of Acts, prohibited under the relevant provisions of the Conventions as “War Crimes” including:

1. Torture or inhuman treatment[Article 8(2)(a)(ii)]

2. Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health [Article 8(2)(a)(iii)]

3. Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement [Article 8(2)(a)(vii)]

4. Taking of hostages [Article 8(2)(a)(viii)]

A plethora of civil liberties and freedoms enshrined under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Customary International Law. Russia, as a party to both the Covenant and the Geneva Conventions, is bound to observe the treaty obligations which it has failed to do so.

They are of the further belief that Russian behaviour is not only tantamount to a “War Crime” but also be investigated as a “Crime Against Humanity”; an offence whose gravity and punishment travels much further and beyond. The substantive and procedural aspects of an investigation is also stipulated within the Rome Statute which bequeaths a guiding framework upon the proceedings conducted by or under the aegis of the International Criminal Court. The Report, based upon the testimonies of tens of rescued individuals, marks one of the most significant interventions by Amnesty International as regards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.