PACE Declares that Abducting Ukrainian Children is Genocide
The
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) approved a strongly
worded resolution regarding Ukrainian children who were abducted and subjected
to russian attempts to erase their identity, as well as those who have found
refuge in the EU.
Reportedly,
the decision adopted by PACE members concerns all Ukrainian children, as there
are no children untouched by Russian aggression. The PACE resolution is based
on a project prepared by Ukrainian National Deputy Olena Khomenko, supported by
85 PACE members with no votes against it.
The
document calls on the national parliaments of all Council of Europe member
states to adopt decisions “condemning the war crimes against children and recognizing
deportations, forcible transfers, and unjustifiable delay in repatriation of
Ukrainian children … as a crime of genocide.”
Addressing
the Assembly, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska asked national parliaments
“to join in order to force Russia to comply with at least the Geneva
Conventions and immediately provide comprehensive lists with the names and
whereabouts of all Ukrainian children who have been illegally deported.” Every
rescued child “is a special operation involving many countries and dozens of
people who care. That’s how we succeed. And there are dozens of caring
countries and millions of caring people in the world. At least I believe in
this,” she added.
The
adopted text reiterates that “all Ukrainian children have the right to enjoy
the rights and freedoms enshrined in relevant international human rights
instruments” and emphasized that “the best interests of the child must prevail
in all decision-making processes concerning them,” reinforcing the principle
that children should never be used as “a means of exerting pressure or as war
trophies.”
The
Assembly, therefore, called on national parliaments to adopt resolutions recognizing
these crimes as genocide, and the international community to collaborate with
Ukraine to trace and repatriate missing children, namely “to identify, locate
and return them to Ukraine.”
