Sybiha: We hope special tribunal to start operating within year
Ukraine hopes that, with the support of its partners, the special tribunal on the crime of aggression will effectively begin operations within a year, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha has said.
According to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, he made these remarks at the Security Architecture forum on Monday.
"We have seen that international law requires not only norms but also enforcement mechanisms. Automatic sanctions instead of grandiose declarations. Effective prevention. The Geneva Conventions that will actually protect prisoners of war. And, of course, the key requirement here is the inevitability of punishment for the crime. The establishment of the Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression in The Hague was a historic step," the minister said.
He said that for the first time since Nuremberg, the international community is gaining a tool to hold the senior military and political leadership of the aggressor state and its accomplices accountable.
"And this is not just a matter of justice; it is a matter of future security. We very much hope that, with the support of our partners, the Special Tribunal will begin functioning within a year. Because impunity always breeds new aggression. The inevitability of punishment is a legal deterrent," Sybiha said.
However, as the Foreign Minister said, Ukraine needs military deterrence and for Russia to realize the inevitability of a response to aggression and punishment.
