4-3-22 WP Draft - Syrian Accountability Project

The Global Accountability Network Presents:

RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES AGAINST UKRAINE: THE BREACH OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

April 2022

LEAD WRITERS: Kelly Adams, Kanalya Arivalagan, Mia Bonardi, Pheobe Juel, Christopher Martz

CONTRIBUTORS: Alexa Thein, Alexandra Lane, Anchal Saxena, Anthony Emmi, Avery Walke, Bradley Balach, Caroline Atlas, Daniel Bonsangue, Dessi-Ann Yetman, Elizabeth Broderick, Frank H. Stolba III, Harper Fox, Ian Braddock, Jason Barnes, Jenny Cowan, Jodi Green, Joel Shambaugh, Julie Yang, Kajol Raju, Katherine Marsh, Madeleine Kay McDaniel, Maggie Mabie, Maria Pobedinsky, Marjoria RomeynSanabria, Meghan Stamps, Miguel Andr?s Cruz, Richard Selwood, Sage Grant, S.L. Moppert, Sarah Joan Scott, Shelly Feldman, Spencer Luckwitz, Sydney Krause, Theresa Barrett, Todd Jones, and Yuree Nam.

EDITORS: Kelly Adams, Kanalya Arivalagan, Mia Bonardi, Christopher Martz, Professor David M. Crane

THE GLOBAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: UKRAINE TASK FORCE, 2022 PROJECT LEADER: Professor David M. Crane, Former Chief Prosecutor, Special Court of Sierra Leone TASK FORCE DIRECTOR: Christopher Martz UKRAINIAN HISTORY RESEARCH LEAD: Kanalya Arivalagan INTERNATIONAL LEGAL RESEARCH LEAD: Kelly Adams RUSSIAN POLITICAL RESEARCH LEAD: Mia Bonardi RUSSIAN MILITARY RESEARCH LEAD: Matthew McCartin

The Ukraine Task Force (UKTF) aims to produce non-partisan, high quality analysis of open-source materials and to catalogue that information relative to applicable bodies of law; including, the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The UKTF primarily creates documentation products in a narrative and graphical format, as well as a quarterly and annual trend analysis of ongoing crimes. Furthermore, the UKTF publishes issue-specific white papers. Its clients include Transnational NGOs, the United Nations, U.S. Department of State, and the Public Interest International Law & Policy Group (PILPG).

The UKTF would like to give gratitude to the Yemen Accountability Project (YAP) for unwavering support and assistance in the construction of this paper. In addition, the UKTF gives special thanks to Maggie Mabie, Esq. of the Marsh Law Firm for quality graphic production and data analysis.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 1 I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY PROFESSOR DAVID M. CRANE* ............................................... 3 II. THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION'S INVASION OF UKRAINE ............................................................. 4 III. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND PRECEDING THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION'S INVASION OF UKRAINE ......................................................................................................................................... 5

A. Brief Description ............................................................................................................... 5 B. Eurasian Chernozem Belt .................................................................................................. 6 C. Soviet-Era Ukraine .......................................................................................................... 10 1. Holodomor ..................................................................................................................... 10 2. Chernobyl ....................................................................................................................... 11 3. Ukraine Declaration of Independence ........................................................................... 12 D. Russia-Ukraine War ........................................................................................................ 13 1. Revolution of Dignity/Maidan Revolution/Euromaidan ................................................ 14 2. Crimea ............................................................................................................................ 17 3. The Donbas .................................................................................................................... 20 IV. INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF ACCOUNTABILITY ........................................ 22 A. History of the Geneva Conventions ................................................................................. 22 1. Object/Purpose of the Conventions ................................................................................ 23 2. Protected Persons Under the Conventions .................................................................... 23 3. Selected Protections Within the Conventions................................................................. 23

i. Hospital Protections..................................................................................................... 23 ii. Humanitarian Protections ............................................................................................ 24 4. Application of the Convention by International Tribunals ............................................ 24 B. Overview and Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court ..................................... 25 C. Crimes Against Humanity................................................................................................ 26 D. War Crimes ...................................................................................................................... 27 V. MOST RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUALS ....................................................................................... 28 A. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin ......................................................................................... 29 B. Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov......................................................................................... 30 C. Nikolay Vasilyevich Bogdanovsky ................................................................................... 31 D. Igor Olegovich Kostyukov ............................................................................................... 32

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E. Oleg Leonidovich Salyukov ............................................................................................. 32 VI. VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND RESPONSIBLE PARTIES ........................................................................................................................................ 33

A. Unlawful Targeting of Medical Facilities ....................................................................... 34 B. Use of Indiscriminate Cluster Munitions......................................................................... 34 C. Willfully Causing Great Suffering and Murder of Civilians ........................................... 35 D. Abduction and Detainment of Government Officials and the Taking of Hostages.......... 36 E. Targeting of Journalists and Members of the Press........................................................ 37 F. Bombing of Evacuation and Humanitarian Routes ......................................................... 37 G. Forced Deportation of Ukrainian Citizens...................................................................... 38 H. Crimes of Aggression....................................................................................................... 38 VII. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 40

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document will primarily cover the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Russian Federation from February 24, 2022, to April 1, 2022. The basis of this report is founded upon open-source research and evidence collection by an inter-collegiate investigative team from across the United States, collecting reports, photographic, and video evidence of crimes occurred in Ukraine. The contents of this document will provide the reader with a brief, but important, historical overview of Ukraine and its relationship with the Russian State. In addition, it will articulate the international legal mechanisms of accountability, identify individuals most responsible for the commission of crimes in Ukraine, and provide a series of representative charges to be used in an international criminal tribunal. In its conclusion, this paper calls upon the international community to respond by utilizing the available international accountability mechanisms, as the Russian Federation is openly committing crimes of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. For the reader's reference, Section V contains a command-and-control diagram produced by the Global Accountability Network and its dedicated researchers.

In addition, this document contains appendices that provide the reader more detailed information regarding the Russian Federation's criminal activity in Ukraine. Appendix A is a sample draft of an international criminal indictment against President Putin. Appendix B is a crime narrative detailing, by date, the crimes committed in Ukraine by the responsible party. In addition, Appendix C expands on the crime narrative and provides a more detailed breakdown of the violations of International Humanitarian Law, as well as documenting violations of the Ukrainian Penal Code.

Appendix D is a comprehensive dossier detailing the command-and-control structure of the Russian political and military senior leadership. This "dossier" lists the individuals responsible for the atrocities in Ukraine, and documents relevant information surrounding their responsibility and complicity.

Notably, there are omissions from this document that are deserving of discussion and further analysis. As of the writing of this very section, an atrocity has occurred in Bucha on a devastating scale. Recently, the bodies of 410 civilians have been recovered from areas in the wider Kyiv region after Ukrainian forces regained complete control, with reports of widescale murder, torture, and rape. While the atrocity of Bucha falls outside the temporal scope of this document, the efforts of the Global Accountability Network's Ukraine Task Force does not end here. This document is merely the foundational document and will launch a series of subsequent investigations and analyses of crimes committed in Ukraine. The Ukraine Task Force will not allow Bucha to be forgotten and will be the centerpiece analysis of its next publication.

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