ICC Prosecutor Vows War Crimes Accountability Ahead Of London Meeting

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Mar, 2023 ) :International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said on Monday that the ICC "won't hesitate to act" over possible war crimes in Ukraine, as ministers from more than 40 countries met in London.

The gathering, to discuss boosting support for its probes into the conflict, follows the court's issuance on Friday of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.

They are accused of the war crime of "illegal deportation" of Ukrainian children following Russia's conflict with Ukraine in February 2022.

In comments before the London conference, Khan said that other ICC investigations into alleged atrocities remained ongoing but required funding and technical support.

"We have a standard that we must meet in terms of the criminal prosecutions," he told BBC radio. "We can't do everything at once.

We don't have unlimited resources." However, "If reliable evidence has been brought together and gathered, and if there's no exonerating evidence that mitigates or reduces the criminal responsibility, we won't hesitate to act," he said.

The meeting in the UK capital, hosted by justice minister Dominic Raab and his Dutch counterpart Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, follows repeated ICC calls for more support for its Ukraine probes.

Alongside Khan, Ukraine's justice minister Denys Maliuska and its prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, will address attendees.

London has already announced additional funding of nearly �400,000 ($488,000) to help pay for psychological support for witnesses and victims of crimes or to hire additional British experts to reinforce the ICC.

Other countries are expected to pledge practical and financial support for the court at the conference, according to the UK's justice ministry.