PACE adopts resolution that Russia's deportation of Ukrainian children is genocide
The assembly also recognized Putin as a war criminal and approved an amendment that Lukashenko is also involved in the crime of genocide
On Thursday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution that classifies the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide.
Source. MP Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote on social media that PACE members had voted in favor of the document with this wording.
Since the beginning of the war, this is the first official international document to call Russia's actions "genocide."
According to Ukrinform, the resolution states that "in the case of forced displacement of children, there is a crime of genocide, which must be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted."
Oleksiy Honcharenko writes that the PACE also approved an amendment he introduced that Alexander Lukashenko is also involved in the crime of genocide against Ukrainians – forced deportation – since many Ukrainian children are taken to the territory of Belarus.
The resolution also welcomes the decision of the International Criminal Court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova.
"This is one of the most important decisions of PACE in this resolution. Not all PACE members are countries that have ratified the Rome Statute (the statute under which Putin's arrest warrant was issued). And it is the adoption of this resolution that expands the circle of countries where Putin is officially considered a suspect in war crimes," Honcharenko wrote.
During the PACE meeting, the address of the wife of the President of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, was shown, who spoke about the deportation of Ukrainian children.
Olena Zelenska said that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children are currently in Russia.
Since the beginning of the war, Russia has withdrawn from the Council of Europe and does not participate in PACE meetings. The Russian authorities did not deny that they transported Ukrainian children to their territory, but insisted that it was an evacuation.
Background. Earlier, Poland approved a resolution condemning Russia's crimes against children.
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