PGO on UN General Assembly decision on deported Ukrainian children: World demands response
The Resolution "Return of Ukrainian Children" adopted at a special session of the UN General Assembly, is a signal that the world sees the crime against Ukrainian children, understands its scale and demands an immediate reaction, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGO) said.
In a Telegram channel on Thursday, the department said the resolution is a document that forms a clear international legal framework for further action. "The UN General Assembly has taken another fundamental step in the fight for the return of Ukrainian children, whom Russia illegally moved and deported.... This decision is a signal that the world sees the crime against Ukrainian children, understands its scale and demands an immediate reaction," the department said in a statement.
According to the PGO, the UN General Assembly demands that Russia immediately and unconditionally return all Ukrainian children it forcibly removed and stop the practices of changing citizenship, illegal adoption and transferring children to Russian families.
"For the first time, the UN Secretary-General has established the need to provide international access to information about illegally displaced children, including their location, health status and conditions of detention," the PGO said.
The department explains that this is critically important for prosecutors, because it is impossible to return a child until it is even established where he is and in what condition.
"Ninety-one states voted for the resolution, and this confirms that the issue of Ukrainian children has become. The countries unequivocally recognize: the deportation of children is a war crime that has no statute of limitations and cannot be justified by any circumstances," the PGO said.
The PGO said it is prosecutors who document the war crime of deportation, record the facts of displacement, change of citizenship, and illegal adoption; form the evidence base that is transferred to the International Criminal Court and international partners; identify children and establish their movement routes, cooperating with foreign law enforcement agencies and international structures.
According to the prosecutor's office, some 19,546 Ukrainian children have been officially verified as deported or forcibly displaced, 661 children have died as a result of the Russian Federation's armed aggression, and more than 2,200 children have been injured to varying degrees of severity. "So far, only 1,876 children have been returned home, which emphasizes the critical need for international pressure," the department said.
The PGO provides procedural guidance in more than 5,363 criminal proceedings on the facts of crimes against children.
Therefore, according to the report, this Resolution has direct practical significance for the prosecutor's office of Ukraine, as it strengthens the international legal basis on which the prosecutor's office can rely in criminal proceedings regarding war crimes related to the deportation and forcible transfer of children.
As the PGO states, the Resolution confirms the international recognition of the fact of the crime, which is important for collecting evidence, international legal assistance and further bringing the perpetrators to justice; contributes to expanding access to information about illegally displaced children through UN mechanisms, which significantly helps in establishing their fate and return;
In addition, the prosecutor's office expects that this document will strengthen Ukraine's position in international judicial institutions, in particular in the International Criminal Court.