DW
Hundreds of people in Ukraine have been sexually assaulted by Russian soldiers since the invasion of their country began. Now, for the first time, four alleged perpetrators are in the sights of Germany’s justice system.
German and Ukrainian lawyers work together
While none of the perpetrators or their superiors have yet been arrested, investigations by the Ukrainian authorities are underway and a trial was launched against one of the alleged perpetrators in absentia.
The lawyers from human rights organization, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and their Ukrainian partner organization, the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, have jointly filed a criminal case with Germany’s attorney general. In doing so, they want to hold not only the two perpetrators but also their superiors, two high-ranking commanders, to account.
Andreas Schüller from the ECCHR, who is one of the lawyers on the case, explained that there are loopholes in Ukrainian law. Firstly, this crime against humanity is not listed as a punishable offense. In addition, Ukrainian law does not recognize the concept of command responsibility. “That means superiors are not held responsible for international crimes committed by a subordinate, even if they knew about the crimes or should have known about them, and still did not prevent them,” Schüller told DW.
The Ukrainian judiciary could therefore investigate the two soldiers who are accused of murder and rape. However it would be difficult to bring their commanders before the court. The International Criminal Court, which is also conducting investigations in Ukraine, is likely to focus on a few specific cases as examples.
Recently an arrest warrant was also issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin and a member of his cabinet, who are accused of kidnapping Ukrainian children from Russian-held territories.
Between the ordinary frontline soldiers and the top leaders, there is a “grey area” for accused criminals whose positions are ranked in the mid-to-high level. This is exactly where public prosecutors from third countries are called upon: “The idea is for them to obtain arrest warrants,” Schüller said, “so that if people are caught, they can potentially be tried in Germany or another third country.”
