Minister Xhaçka at the high level meeting in New York: Albania supports the efforts to document the atrocities of the war in Ukraine

The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhaçka, participated in the high-level meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the “Group of Friends of Accountability”, following the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Minister Xhaçka said that the situation in Ukraine, more than condemnation, requires responsibility.

Minister Xhaçka emphasized that the responsibility is equivalent with admitting the truth: that for a long time the world has not been able to hold Russia accountable.

“So, however unpleasant it may be, we are here because of Putin and Russia’s choices of course, but we are here also because of our own decisions. Holding Russia to account is not just about Ukraine and not just about Russia. It is also about not allowing history to repeat itself. At the same time there is mounting and hard to refute prima facie evidence of deliberate indiscriminate attacks directed against civilians which are prohibited by international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes. It is incumbent upon us to assist and support this process of exposing the truth and of communicating that truth to all with the goal of ending this war. Albania has wholeheartedly embraced this initiative and will support all efforts to gather evidence and document the atrocities of the war in Ukraine,” said Minister Xhaçka in her speech.

Following the denunciation of the UN General Assembly for the acts committed by Russia, as well as the continuation of the mechanisms set up by the International Community, to hold accountable the perpetrators of war crimes, Albania, Colombia, Denmark, the Marshall Islands, The Netherlands and Ukraine co-founded this interregional forum of states dedicated to securing responsibility for crimes committed in Ukraine.

The Group of Friends of Accountability aims to exchange information between states, international organizations, institutions and civil society, optimizing the process of accountability and justice but also the involvement of smaller states in this process.

Minister Xhaçka’s statement as follows:

I am very pleased to be here today as we launch the Group of Friends for Accountability in Ukraine. I am pleased to be here among friends and allies and partners united in a just cause. I truly think that any country or nation in the world that believes in justice, in peace, in security and the international rules based system, should unite with us around this cause.

An innocent, independent, sovereign country, a fellow UN Member, has been attacked without provocation by Russia. This military aggression is illegal, in flagrant violation of international law, in clear violation of the UN Charter and the core principles that underpin the rules based international order.

But this is a situation that calls for more than just condemnation. It calls for accountability.

We owe this to the Ukrainian people who with their heroic resistance that have won the admiration and respect of the world and have been foremost in holding Russia to account. They deserve all our support and all our effort in holding Russia to account for its crimes, just as they deserve our support in resisting the criminal onslaught to which they are being subjected.

But we also owe it to ourselves and our children. Because make no mistake, a world where such an illegal aggression is not called to account is bound to be a dangerous world, one where rules give room to the law of the jungle, where might makes right. And let us not go that far, and simply recall the detrimental impact this war is already having on the Sustainable Development Goals and Millennium Development Goals we all share or the terrible impact it is having on the fight against hunger and poverty. Their consequences will be felt for a long time to come.

Accountability is above all about establishing the truth. Even when that truth might not be pleasant.

And the truth is that for too long we failed to hold Russia to account. Even when dissidents and opponents of Vladimir Putin were poisoned, not on one, but on many an occasion. And when poison failed as in the case of Alexei Navalny and the regime resorted to imprisonment on ludicrous charges, there was some protest, but on the whole it was business as usual. Just as it was business as usual when journalists were murdered, when countries were subjected to cyberattacks, when neighbors were invaded and their territories annexed, when cities were raised to the ground, when chemical weapons were used. We never pursued accountability in a committed, sustained manner.

Should we be surprised by the brutal bombing of civilians in Ukraine? Of maternity wards, hospitals, water treatment plants, vital infrastructure? Is anyone surprised by the catastrophe that is taking place in Mariupol through Russia’s use of scorched earth tactics? Or the 10 million displaced people and 3.5 million refugees?

We saw this happen just a few years ago in Syria but we looked the other way and never called for accountability.

So, however unpleasant it may be, we are here because of Putin and Russia’s choices of course, but we are here also because of our own decisions.

This we must remember, this must be our guiding light as we go about establishing accountability: we must never forget that holding Russia to account is not just about Ukraine and not just about Russia. It is also about not allowing history to repeat itself.

Dear colleagues,

It was a very important moment when the International Court of Justice found no evidence to substantiate Russia’s justification for war and ordered it to immediately suspend its military operations on the territory of Ukraine; an order that is binding under international law.

At the same time there is mounting and hard to refute prima facie evidence of deliberate indiscriminate attacks directed against civilians which are prohibited by international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes.

While in Russia itself, it will become harder and harder for the regime to cover up the criminal war it is engaged in as Russian families mourn their loved ones which are losing their lives in dramatic numbers in a war they do not believe in.

It is incumbent upon us to assist and support this process of exposing the truth and of communicating that truth to all with the goal of ending this war. It is for this reason that Albania has wholeheartedly embraced this initiative and will support all efforts to gather evidence and document the atrocities of the war in Ukraine, including efforts by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, the UN Human Rights Council and the OSCE, through the Moscow Mechanism and other tools. Not just Russia as a country, but also the individuals, from the military of civilian authorities, involved in this war must be held accountable and face the consequences of this illegal war for the famous phrase “never again!” to regain its credibility.

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