Stephen Karganovic
The neo-Nazi regime in Kiev is openly engaging in odious practices against civilian non-combatants that constitute a grave violation of international law and a crime against humanity.
With complete impunity, the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev is openly engaging in odious practices against civilian non-combatants that constitute a grave violation of international law and a crime against humanity. As Russian troops advance and take control of an increasing number of towns and settlements, one of the ways in which the Kiev authorities are coping with that embarrassing situation before the arrival of Russian troops is to conduct mass deportations of the local Ukrainian population to zones in the rear that they still control.
Forced relocation is legally defined as the coercive movement of individuals or groups from their established homes or territories, due to government policies or conflicts. In Ukraine, displacement fitting this definition is being carried out under military orders. There is no explanation for that based on military necessity or because of a reasonable concern for the safety of civilians. Nor is there evidence of prior consent by the deportees. The reasons for the deportations are entirely propagandistic and political.
Collective West political circles have ignored this practice and have not publicly condemned such conduct on the part of the Kiev regime. Their media have confined themselves to bland and matter of fact reporting ( here and here and here) whilst avoiding any discussion of the legal and humanitarian implications of such actions.
Lack of reaction on their part is natural and to be expected because highlighting this issue, or even acknowledging its existence, would discredit the entire mendaciously constructed victim/aggressor Ukraine Project narrative. However, the lack of critical attention to this subject on the Russian side is incomprehensible.
Forced transfer of civilians was recognised as a criminal offence by the Nuremberg Tribunal. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court [ICC] criminalises the forcible transfer or deportation of civilians as a crime against humanity. The prohibition of the transfer or deportation of civilians was formally codified as part of international criminal law in the Fourth Geneva Convention, "Relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war," which went into effect on 12 August 1949. Further to that, in a resolution on basic principles for the protection of civilian populations in armed conflicts, adopted in 1970, the UN General Assembly affirmed that "civilian populations, or individual members thereof, should not be the object of... forcible transfers". In a resolution on the protection of women and children in emergency and armed conflict, adopted in 1974, the UN General Assembly declared that "forcible eviction, committed by belligerents in the course of military operations or in occupied territories, shall be considered criminal."
The applicability of these normative provisions to the Ukrainian authorities is indisputable also in light of UN Refugee Agency's Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, specifically Principle 5, which provides that:
"State practice also underlines the duty of parties to a conflict to prevent displacement caused by their own acts, at least those acts which are prohibited in and of themselves (e.g., terrorizing the civilian population or carrying out indiscriminate attacks). As stated in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement:
"All authorities and international actors shall respect and ensure respect for their obligations under international law, including human rights and humanitarian law, in all circumstances, so as to prevent and avoid conditions that might lead to displacement of persons."
The cited conventions and normative principles regulating conduct toward civilian non-combatants in zones of armed conflict unquestionably apply to the Kiev authorities because they are part of the public and customary international law to which Ukraine, as member of the United Nations, is obligated to adhere.
But regrettably, governments and international institutions are not insisting that it should do so. Scant if any attention is being paid to the brazen violations that Ukraine is continuously committing in this regard. The Kiev regime is not being called to account for its abuse of Ukrainian civilians.
The Kiev regime's use of civilians in combat zones as pawns for propaganda purposes must be forcefully condemned and international public opinion must be made aware of this unacceptable conduct. The war crimes commission of the Russian government, whilst focusing on individual offenders, as it properly should, must also shine a strong burst of light on regime violations of international humanitarian law such as this. They do not point merely to individual offenders but incriminate collectively the entire decision-making echelon of the Kiev regime leadership.