PACE recognizes deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has recognized the deportation and forcible transfers of Ukrainian children to Russia, Ukraine's member Yevgeniya Kravchuk says. 

The resolution titled "Deportations and forcible transfers of Ukrainian children and other civilians to Russian Federation or to Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied: create conditions for their safe return, stop these crimes and punish the perpetrators" was adopted in Strasbourg.

87 votes supported the resolution.

The Assembly underscores that the forcible transfer of children from one group to another group, with the intention to destroy, totally or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group is considered as a crime of genocide under Article 2 paragraph (e) of the 1948 Genocide Convention, which matches with the documented evidence of deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation or territories temporarily under Russian occupation, the resolution states.

This document:

• emphasizes the facts of deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia are subject to the Genocide Convention of 1948;
• welcomes the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the Russian "children's ombudsman" Maria Lvova-Belova;
• calls on the member states of the Rome Statute to fulfill their obligations;
• supports the need to document, collect and evaluate evidence of the crime of genocide;
• calls on the International Criminal Court to consider the prosecution of the perpetrators of the crime of genocide;
• calls on member states to consider prosecuting all crimes in national courts;
• calls for immediate measures to stop the deportation of Ukrainian children.

The Assembly also supports the need for thorough recording, gathering and assessment of evidence of the crime of genocide as provided by both the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention. The Assembly supports the investigation and prosecution of the State policy of forcible transfers and deportation of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation, and Ukraine's potential actions before the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, the document states.

Another member of the delegation, Oleksii Goncharenko, said the term "genocide" in relation to Russia's actions is mentioned for the first time in an official document of this level.

Goncharenko also noted that PACE adopted an amendment to the resolution stating that Belarusian dictator Oleksandr Lukashenko was involved in the deportation of Ukrainians as well.

As of April 2023, 19,384 children are considered abducted from Ukraine.

On March 17, the International Criminal Court in the Hague issued arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova. They are accused of illegally deporting children from Ukraine to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale war.