Switzerland supports creation of special tribunal on Ukraine

Calls are mounting to grant the UN powers to investigate Russia for crimes of agression against Ukraine. Keystone / Kateryna Klochko

Switzerland supports the idea of ​​a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis announced on Tuesday in New York. He participated in an exchange on the International Criminal Court (ICC), on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “illegal deportation” of thousands of Ukrainian children since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but it has no jurisdiction to investigate the crime of aggression in Ukraine. This is why the idea is circulating among diplomats of setting up a special UN tribunal.

Cassis specified that such a special court should be established within the multilateral framework and with balanced international support.

Swiss President Alain Berset had earlier criticised Russia in his speech to the UN General Assembly. “By launching a war of aggression against Ukraine, the Russian Federation has not only attacked a peaceful country, but also international law and multilateralism,” he said.

The head of the Federal Department of the Interior regretted that this aggression was the work of a permanent member of the UN Security Council, an organ which is, according to the United Nations charter, “responsible for the maintenance of world peace and international security”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to address the UN Security Council on Wednesday for the first time since the start of the war. The meeting is taking place at the highest level and many leaders are expected to speak.

+ Switzerland ready to help prosecute war crimes

Russia will be represented by its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who arrived in New York on Tuesday evening. It is not clear whether he will attend President Zelensky’s speech in person or be represented during his speech, as was already the case during a meeting of the council at the level of heads of diplomacy.

As a member of the Security Council until the end of 2024, Switzerland, represented by Berset and Cassis, will also be present.

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