Criminal liability for forced displacement of Ukrainian children in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine: genocidal aspect

Abstract

A significant proportion of victims of crimes committed by Russians are children. The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights reported 3,800 (as of the time of the study) criminal proceedings for such crimes. However, it was the crime of forcible transfer of Ukrainian children that became the basis for the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for the Russian president and a good reason to start an investigation into the alleged fact that Russians committed the crime of genocide by transferring children from one group to another. The article is devoted to the elements of the crime of genocide committed by forcibly transferring children from one group to another. Particular attention is paid to the interdependence of the concepts of forcible transfer of children from one group to another as a crime of genocide and forced displacement of children as a war crime or crime against humanity. The author examines the key elements of the crime in accordance with the structure proposed by the International Criminal Court and taking into account the case law in the field of international criminal liability for the crime of genocide, and also needs to be revised in view of the specific features of the crimes committed by the Russian occupation forces on the territory of Ukraine.