Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The past two years were marked by the brutal war in Ukraine and war crimes committed by the Russian army. From the mass abduction of Ukrainian children and their displacement to Russian territory to the systematic and intentional targeting of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, the list of these crimes is long and warrants determined action to bring accountability to the perpetrators and justice to the victims. In this panel, the Human Rights Foundation will look at the human rights abuses committed by Russia and discuss ways Ukrainians – and the democratic community at large – can counter them.
Speakers:
Oleksandra Matviichuk: a Ukrainian lawyer and human rights activist. Her Centre for Civil Liberties, established in 2007, won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. Oleksandra spent many years using her work to promote democracy in Ukraine and now her organization is focused on documenting war crimes.
Michael Scharf: an American lawyer in the field of international criminal law. Michael is a co-founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group, an organization which provides legal assistance to parties involved in peace negotiations and war crimes prosecution.
Pavel Latushko: a Belarusian opposition figure who is in charge of sanctions and works closely with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who de facto won the presidential election in Belarus in 2020. Since 2020, Mr. Latushka has been collecting evidence of various transgressions that took place in Belarus in the last 4 years, and his team is now involved in documenting Lukashenko’s involvement in war crimes in Ukraine.
Video Timeline:
0:36 — Introduction
3:55 — Difference between war crimes, crimes of aggression, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
8:20 — The process of evidence collection.
10:43 — Existing international legal frameworks to hold perpetrators accountable.
15:27 — The role of Lukashenko in war crimes in Ukraine; transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus.
19:38 — Ways to hold Lukashenko accountable.
21:49 — The role of Ukrainian courts.
23:59 — The biggest problems with the current international mechanisms & how they can be improved.
27:58 — Ukraine’s cooperation with international institutions and courts since the Feb 24 invasion.
30:43 — How to deal with large-scale war crimes, such as the ones committed in Mariupol.
36:04 — Avenues that currently exist for Ukrainians to receive compensation.
39:20 — What support services are available right now, and what services should be available to victims of war crimes.
Learn more about our work at the Human Rights Foundation:
Website: hrf.org
Twitter: twitter.com/HRF
Instagram: instagram.com/hrf
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hrf
Subscribe to HRF’s Substack: humanrightsfoundation.substack.com
Join us in promoting freedom where it’s most at risk!
Donate today: hrf.org/?form=donate
The past two years were marked by the brutal war in Ukraine and war crimes committed by the Russian army. From the mass abduction of Ukrainian children and their displacement to Russian territory to the systematic and intentional targeting of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, the list of these crimes is long and warrants determined action to bring accountability to the perpetrators and justice to the victims. In this panel, the Human Rights Foundation will look at the human rights abuses committed by Russia and discuss ways Ukrainians – and the democratic community at large – can counter them.
Speakers:
Oleksandra Matviichuk: a Ukrainian lawyer and human rights activist. Her Centre for Civil Liberties, established in 2007, won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. Oleksandra spent many years using her work to promote democracy in Ukraine and now her organization is focused on documenting war crimes.
Michael Scharf: an American lawyer in the field of international criminal law. Michael is a co-founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group, an organization which provides legal assistance to parties involved in peace negotiations and war crimes prosecution.
Pavel Latushko: a Belarusian opposition figure who is in charge of sanctions and works closely with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who de facto won the presidential election in Belarus in 2020. Since 2020, Mr. Latushka has been collecting evidence of various transgressions that took place in Belarus in the last 4 years, and his team is now involved in documenting Lukashenko’s involvement in war crimes in Ukraine.
Video Timeline:
0:36 — Introduction
3:55 — Difference between war crimes, crimes of aggression, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
8:20 — The process of evidence collection.
10:43 — Existing international legal frameworks to hold perpetrators accountable.
15:27 — The role of Lukashenko in war crimes in Ukraine; transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus.
19:38 — Ways to hold Lukashenko accountable.
21:49 — The role of Ukrainian courts.
23:59 — The biggest problems with the current international mechanisms & how they can be improved.
27:58 — Ukraine’s cooperation with international institutions and courts since the Feb 24 invasion.
30:43 — How to deal with large-scale war crimes, such as the ones committed in Mariupol.
36:04 — Avenues that currently exist for Ukrainians to receive compensation.
39:20 — What support services are available right now, and what services should be available to victims of war crimes.
Learn more about our work at the Human Rights Foundation:
Website: hrf.org
Twitter: twitter.com/HRF
Instagram: instagram.com/hrf
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hrf
Subscribe to HRF’s Substack: humanrightsfoundation.substack.com
Join us in promoting freedom where it’s most at risk!
Donate today: hrf.org/?form=donate
