Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The text of this motion has a strong focus on holding Russia accountable for its behaviour in Ukraine. The most important facet of the resolution is its call that those responsible for crimes in Ukraine be held to account. This focus should remain to the fore in international consideration of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Everybody responsible within and without Russia should be held accountable. The Seanad provides a platform for this important principle tonight. That is important.

The further invasion of Ukraine, starting on 24 February 2022, was and is a gross violation of international law. All of us are aware of the many reports, seen by Senator Dooley, the Cathaoirleach and others, of shocking acts perpetrated by the invading Russian forces.

When the Minister, Deputy Coveney, debriefed the UN Security Council on 19 April following his visit to Ukraine, he was able to bear witness in the council chamber to what he had seen, focusing on the town of Bucha. He described hundreds of family homes, shops and other civilian infrastructure blackened, burnt, looted, damaged and, in some cases, completely destroyed. He described family cars riddled with bullets, windshields smashed and bloodstains evident. He described standing at the edge of one of the mass graves while the work of carefully exhuming bodies continued. A total of 503 civilians had been identified at that stage and just four soldiers. Reports like this horrify us all and remind us that we cannot slacken in our support to Ukraine and to the Ukrainian people. I was glad to meet the ambassador from Ukraine in the corridors this evening and reiterate our support. The events of these months must never be forgotten.

I will speak on the support Ireland is giving for Ukraine's membership of the European Union. Ireland has joined a group of member states called the friends of enlargement and is to the fore in supporting Ukraine in its quest for candidate status. Tonight, the ambassador or permanent representative in Brussels is hosting a meeting of the group of countries supporting Ukraine's accession to the European Union. Ireland will continue to lead on that. The Taoiseach has given strong leadership on that and reiterated that point at the European Council on Monday. Ireland supports the strongest possible sanctions and always has. We have achieved much, and more than people would have given us credit for. Pretty much every bank in Russia is de-SWIFTed, as it were. That was not thought possible before Christmas. Huge parts of the Russian economy are now sanctioned. We will not get everything we look for because different countries have different needs and some countries, unfortunately, are wholly dependent on Russian oil, but we have come a long way.

The motion refers to genocide, specifically in its conclusion. The determination of an act of genocide involves a complex analysis of fact and law. Ireland's practice is to recognise genocide only when this has been established by a final decision of an Irish court or international tribunal, or where there is international consensus on the matter. Both the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, ICC, and the relevant legal authorities of a number of states, including Ukraine, are conducting criminal investigations into numerous acts committed by Russian forces that may constitute international crimes, including genocide. It is important we let these investigations run their course and do not pre-empt outcomes. However, there are serious, sincere and widely shared concerns that the act of genocide may well have been committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, and those responsible must be held accountable.

Ireland and our EU partners are clear on the need for international justice mechanisms to assist in delivering such accountability. Ireland is a strong supporter of the ICC and is one of more than 40 states parties to refer the situation in Ukraine to the office of the prosecutor of the ICC for the purposes of investigating the matters Senator Dooley discussed, namely, the claims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The prosecutor has started investigation activities in Ukraine. The starting of investigations is intended to lead to the prosecution at the ICC of individuals for the commission of crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of that court. It is important we allow these investigations to proceed with independence and impartiality, values that are fundamental to that court's work and mandate and to any court in our democracies. We have expressed some concern to the Ukrainian authorities about their proposed legislation, which could limit Ukraine's co-operation with the court solely to possible crimes committed by Russian forces. The court must be allowed to do its work independently.

There are now additional staffing and financial pressures on the ICC and it has asked for further resources from states parties. In response to this, Ireland announced on 14 April that it will provide an additional €3 million to the ICC, €1 million of which has already been dispersed to the office of the prosecutor. Although announced in Ukraine, this voluntary contribution will be made available for the benefit of all country situations under investigation or on trial, as the rules governing such funding preclude it being used to influence any one investigation. The situations in Palestine, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo are other matters before the court. Ireland is also investigating the possibility of providing national seconded experts from our Civil Service or others to the office of the prosecutor.

To date, EU member states have agreed to contribute €7,646,000 and to second 16 experts to the ICC to be made available for the benefit of all situations before the court. France, Czechia, Lithuania and Slovakia have offered the services of 32 experts to the judicial authorities in Ukraine, while the Netherlands has provided a forensic and investigative team of around 30 experts under the aegis of the ICC. The voluntary contributions made to the ICC have proved essential in supporting the prosecutor's investigation of the situation in Ukraine, but the best way to meet the resourcing needs of the office of the prosecutor and all the other organs of the court is through the court's regular programme budget, which has to go up. On 25 March, Eurojust established a joint investigative team, JIT, consisting of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, to co-ordinate the collection and sharing of evidence of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukrainian territory. On 25 April, the ICC joined the JIT as a partner and the Czechian, Estonian, Latvian and Slovakian governments are expected to formalise their membership shortly.

Another important tool in the rapid work of holding Russia accountable has been the use of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE's Moscow mechanism. On 3 March, the Moscow mechanism was invoked by Ukraine, supported by 45 of the OSCE's participating states, including Ireland. Subsequently, a mission of three experts was appointed on 14 March, which delivered its report to Ukraine as the inviting state on 5 April. The mission's mandate was to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding possible contraventions of OSCE commitments and possible violations and abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The mission was also mandated to establish the facts and circumstances of possible cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including due to deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. It will act to collect, consolidate and analyse the information with a view to presenting it to the relevant accountability mechanisms as well as national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have, or may in future have, jurisdiction.

The mission's initial report found credible evidence of violations concerning the most fundamental human rights, mostly in the areas under the effective control of Russia, as well as clear patterns of violations of international humanitarian law committed by Russian forces. A further invocation of the Moscow mechanism is expected tomorrow to cover the period following the first report.

Holding Russia accountable for violations of international law must continue to be pursued by the multilateral system. Ireland has been a strong and consistent voice in so doing. As a member of the UN Security Council, Ireland is supporting efforts to bring an end to the conflict through diplomatic means, to hold Russia accountable, and to call out Russia's cynical attempts to use the Security Council and other UN bodies to spread disinformation. Ireland has co-sponsored two resolutions on Ukraine at the General Assembly. Importantly, we also co-sponsored a resolution, adopted by the General Assembly on 7 April, that suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council for its gross and systematic violations of human rights. Ireland co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution establishing an independent commission of inquiry to investigate all alleged breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law and related crimes in the context of Russia's invasion. Ireland is one of 56 countries that supported a special session of the Human Rights Council on the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine resulting from the Russian invasion. Ireland has joined the Group of Friends of Accountability, an informal group of countries dedicated to ensuring accountability for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and other crimes perpetrated in this conflict.

I reiterate that the Government does not oppose this motion, which raises important points about Russia's unacceptable military aggression in Ukraine. That aggression is completely contrary to the principles of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations and the Helsinki Final Act.

On some specific conclusions the motion makes, the Government deems it important to avoid pre-empting any determination that may be made by the ICC or any other competent judicial mechanism. Of course, the Seanad is free to make its own political determination separate from the ICC's proceedings, which I know the Seanad agrees are important. Nevertheless, Russia's violence in Ukraine has been morally repugnant and disgusting and we are making every effort we can internationally to ensure the facts are recorded and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Ireland will play its part in ensuring these events will never be accepted nor forgotten.

I thank the Seanad for the opportunity to address these issues and for Senators' contributions on the motion.