US compares Russia lawsuits to Nuremberg trials

Hundreds of civilian bodies were found in Bucha, in the Kyiv region, after the withdrawal of Russian troops at the end of March
| Photo: EFE/Miguel Gutiérrez

The United States compared this Monday (21) the efforts of various Western countries to hold Russia accountable for the war in Ukraine with the Nuremberg Trials, which put in the docks high-ranking officials of the Nazi regime.372

“We are living in a moment like Nuremberg, when the Allies came together at the end of World War II to bring about justice in the face of unimaginable crimes,” said US Special Ambassador for Global Justice Beth Van Schaack during a telephone news conference.

The ambassador emphasized that now is the time for the international community to prosecute “those responsible for for war crimes and other atrocities that are taking place in Ukraine”.

Van Schaack recalled that the extinct the Soviet Union played a key role in the Nuremberg Trials of the last century and has criticized the fact that Moscow is currently “turning its back on its own legacy”.

Despite everything, he opined that “the world has never been more united around the need for accountability for the terrible violation of international law represented by the war unleashed by Russia ”.

Van Shaack highlighted that one of the biggest challenges in this process will be the capture of the alleged criminals and admitted that “it will be difficult to move forward” if the perpetrators remain in Russia and that country does not experience “a political change”.

However, the ambassador recalled that on previous occasions it was possible to capture accused persons who left their countries, such as the Chilean Augusto Pinochet and the Yugoslavian Slobodan Milosevic.

“There is a lot that can be done,” said Van Schaack, co- mo document war crimes in Ukraine and protect witnesses and survivors to bring the case to the International Criminal Court.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, thousands of cases have been registered that may constitute war crimes committed by Russian troops, such as extrajudicial executions, use of concentration camps or sending Ukrainian children for Russia.

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