On July 17, 2024, a conference devoted to the issue of war crimes was held in Kyiv at the Embassy of the United States of America in Ukraine. The meeting was attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations that work in the field of research and reform of the current legal system of addressing war crimes at the national level in Ukraine and at the international level, document impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and cooperate with authorized bodies towards bringing the aggressor to justice with the support of donor funding of the US Government.
International charitable organization “Environment-People-Law” (hereinafter – EPL) became one of 26 organizations and entities that were invited to participate in this event for the purpose of exchanging information and best practices in the field of addressing war crimes. EPL representatives shared their organization’s experience in conducting field trips to nature conservation areas that were damaged as a result of the Russian invasion and hostilities, practices of documenting effects of war on the environment, results of research in terms of war crimes against the environment under international and national law, and efforts towards elimination of existing problems in this area.
It is extremely important for EPL that the issue of war crimes against the environment is not excluded from the agenda of such an important discourse. We are convinced that the aggressor and his agents should be prosecuted for committing such illegal actions on a par with other war crimes. It is impossible to achieve such results without active participation of civil society representatives in these processes. Therefore, such meetings and the dialogue between various entities united by one goal are extremely important and inspiring. We are grateful to the organizers for the invitation, for supporting our initiatives and activities in this direction.
