CrimeaSOS: those involved in environmental crimes in Crimea may be punished

russian officials can be held individually criminally liable for environmental crimes in Crimea. CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko told Radio Svoboda about this. 

“While the PCAC * and the ECHR** can be mechanisms for holding the russian federation liable as a state for certain types of environmentally harmful activities, the ICC*** can become an instrument of individual criminal liability for crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine, regardless of the suspect’s citizenship or position”, — said Yevhenii Yaroshenko.

The International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction over purely environmental crimes. However, he can investigate environmental damage as a component of war crimes, crimes against humanity or the crime of genocide committed on the territory of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the occupation, russia has committed a number of environmental crimes on the territory of Crimea. The militarization of the peninsula, the predatory exploitation of natural resources and the destruction of nature conservation facilities cause significant damage to the ecology of the occupied Crimea. Construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait, which supplies military equipment to Crimea, caused the death of many dolphins. Three species of dolphins living in the Kerch Strait are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.

You can learn more about russia’s environmental crimes in Crimea in the KrymSOS study at the link.

*PCAC — Permanent chamber of the arbitration court
**ECHR – European Court of Human Rights
***ICС — International Criminal Court