Russian fighter’s confession of killing prisoners might become evidence of war crimes (AUDIO)
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/kremlin-backed-fighters-confession-of-killing-prisoners-might-become-evide
A Russian fighter’s confession that he killed 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war may be considered evidence of war crimes in court if the authenticity of the recording is confirmed, human rights and legal experts say.
But these alleged crimes are unlikely to be considered crimes against humanity, and it would also be difficult to send them to the International Criminal Court.
The statement was made by Arseniy Pavlov, better known by his nom-de-guerre Motorola, in a telephone conversation with the Kyiv Post on April 3. Motorola, head of the Kremlin-backed Sparta Battalion, said that he would not comment on presumed eyewitnesses’ testimony that he had murdered Ukrainian prisoner of war Ihor Branovytsky on Jan. 21.
“I don’t give a f**** about what I am accused of, believe it or not,” Motorola said. “I shot 15 prisoners dead. I don’t give a f****. No comment. I kill if I want to. I don’t if I don’t.”
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[Vasil] Vovk [head of the State Security Service’s main investigative department] said that the Branovytsky case could be sent to the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
However, there are obstacles to transferring any cases against Motorola to the Hague. So far, Ukraine has not ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which recognizes the court’s jurisdiction in specific countries.
On Feb. 4, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution recognizing the jurisdiction of the Hague court for war crimes committed by Russia and Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine from Feb. 20, 2014 until Feb. 4, 2015.
However, the president has not yet formally sent the resolution to the Hague, Mazur said. Some analysts have also argued that Ukrainian authorities had no right to partially recognize the Hague court’s jurisdiction and must do it completely by ratifying the Rome Statute.