Ukrainian NGOs urge ICC to respond to UN Secretary-General’s meeting with Putin

António Guterres and Vladimir Putin. Collage: Truth Hounds

The coalition of Ukrainian NGOs Ukraine 5AM and the Center for Civil Liberties has issued an open statement condemning UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ visit to Russia and his intention to meet with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Source: a statement published on the website of NGO Truth Hounds, the initiator of the appeal and a member of the aforementioned coalition

Details: The NGOs recalled that Putin is under an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and such a meeting “undermines the authority of the ICC and calls into question the values of the UN”.

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Quote: “This step appears to disregard international justice and raises questions about the UN’s neutrality in the conflict. We urge the international community to respond to this situation and prevent similar violations in the future.”

Details: Civil activists call on the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute and the relevant UN bodies to react to the current situation and take measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

They also urge the International Criminal Court and the Office of the Prosecutor to react to this visit and meeting as undermining the credibility of the ICC’s decisions and the investigation of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, which threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world.

In addition, the NGOs request the Office of the ICC Prosecutor, in accordance with Article 18 of the Relationship Agreement between the United Nations and the ICC, to request from Mr António Guterres any information that was obtained during his meeting with the suspect (Vladimir Putin) and may be useful to the investigation.

For more information: The Coalition Ukraine 5AM includes dozens of organisations, namely:

• Advocacy Advisory Panel 
• Association for Development of Judicial Self-Government of Ukraine
• Blue Bird
• World Organisation Against Torture
• Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
• Green Leaf
• Expert Center for Human Rights
• Institute of Mass Information 
• Institute for Peace and Common Ground
• Crimea-SOS
• Crimean Human Rights Group
• Crimea Process
• Public Interest Journalism Lab
• Media Initiative for Human Rights
• International Partnership for Human Rights
• Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners
• Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv
• Human Rights Platform
• Postypovyi Hurt Frankivtsiv
• Freerights Association
• Rights Justice Peace
• Regional Center for Human Rights
• East SOS
• Ukraine without Torture
• Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union
• Ukrainian Healthcare Center (UHC)
• Fundamental Research Support Fund
• DEJURE Foundation
• Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center
• Kharkiv Institute for Social Research
• ‘Almenda’ Civic Education Center
• Human Rights Center ZMINA
• Social Action Centre
• Fight for Right
• FREE ZONE
• The Reckoning Project
• Truth Hounds
• Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group

Background: 

• On 22 October, UN Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Russia for the BRICS summit. Putin is expected to meet with Guterres on the last day of the summit. 
• Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised this decision, recalling that Guterres declined to attend the Peace Summit organised by Ukraine in Switzerland in June.

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