On 11 September 2024, the Council of Europe supported the international high-level expert conference ‘United for Justice: Accountability for Attacks Against Civilian Objects’, held in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was the 7th thematic conference of this level held since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Conference provided a platform for important professional discussions with a focus on critical topic of accountability for attacks against civilian objects. The scale of damage and accountability for the destruction of energy, grain and port infrastructure, healthcare and educational facilities in Ukraine – were among the key topics of the Conference.
Among the invited speakers and participants were presidents of States, representatives of the Council of Europe and European Union institutions, the International Criminal Court, the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), leading experts in international law, Prosecutors General of European states, and Ukrainian government officials.
Attending the event in person, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi addressed the audience with a welcoming speech. The President urged the international community to unite for the sake of justice and to hold the aggressor state and its political and military leadership accountable.
The first session devoted to the topic of destruction of energy infrastructure was moderated by Mr Erlend Falch, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.
In her closing remarks, Clare Ovey, the Director of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, referred to far-reaching human rights implications, which derive from ensuring justice for violations of international law, - “namely, to provide redress to all victims of this unprovoked war of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. In this respect the Human Rights Director concluded, - “… I assure you that the Council of Europe is with you every step of the way going forward… we shall remain united for justice, and – together - we shall prove successful in ensuring accountability for the ongoing attacks on civilian objects.”
In consistency of the series of ‘United for Justice’ conferences, launched in Ukraine in 2023, the event reaffirmed yet another time that “no peace can be without justice and accountability”.
The Council of Europe contribution to the conference was provided within the Project “Fostering Human Rights in the Criminal Justice System in Ukraine” as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” (2023-2026).
