MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on human rights violations in the context of forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to and forced adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia
13.9.2022 - (2022/2825(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure
Željana Zovko, Michaela Šojdrová, Ewa Kopacz, Gheorghe Falcă, Eugen Tomac, Rasa Juknevičienė, Tomáš Zdechovský, Radosław Sikorski, David McAllister, Magdalena Adamowicz, Sara Skyttedal, Antonio López‑Istúriz White, Tom Vandenkendelaere, Peter Pollák, José Manuel Fernandes, Adam Jarubas, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Vangelis Meimarakis, Paulo Rangel, Christian Sagartz, Krzysztof Hetman, Inese Vaidere, Sandra Kalniete, Seán Kelly, Benoît Lutgen, Vladimír Bilčík, Stelios Kympouropoulos, Loránt Vincze, Miriam Lexmann, Andrius Kubilius, Michael Gahler, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, Ivan Štefanec, Jiří Pospíšil, Stanislav Polčák, Arba Kokalari, Janina Ochojska, Romana Tomc, Andrey Kovatchev, Andrzej Halicki, Jerzy Buzek
on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0388/2022
B9‑0407/2022
European Parliament resolution on human rights violations in the context of forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to and forced adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine, in particular European Parliament resolution of 19 May 2022 on the fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine, (2022/2655(RSP)),
- having regard to 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”),
- having regard to the Inter-Allied Declaration signed at St James’s Palace London on 13 January 1942, on the punishment of war crimes,
- having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of Children of 20 November 1989 and the additional protocols thereto,
- having regards to the European Convention on Human Rights,
- having regards to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians, in particular forcible transferring of Ukrainian children thousands miles away to obsolete parts of Russian Federation, is a direct consequence of an unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression started by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which demands an urgent international action to prosecute the Russian Federation and its armed forces for the crime of aggression, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity;
B. whereas according to the Article II of UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide forcible transfer of children of the group to another group, with intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, constitutes genocide; [1]
C. whereas according to different sources approximately 1.6 million Ukrainians, including 260 thousand children have been forcibly evacuated from Ukraine; whereas part of them - estimated at around 2500 - have been abducted from orphanages in Ukraine; whereas this action by the Russian Federation has a systematic and a wide-scaled nature, which among other offences includes eradication of the deportees’ personal records;
D. whereas at least 200 000 Ukrainian children are currently missing [2] of which at least 5600 have been identified and reported as being forcibly deported to Russia[3];
E. whereas there is an abundant evidence of systematic detentions, executions or disappearances of thousands of Ukrainians by the Russian Federation who do not pass the “filtration”, and which is consistent with the evidence of Russian atrocities committed in Bucha, Mariupol and other location in Ukraine, including by massive blast executions in Russian-occupied detention centres, such as Olenivka prison massacre where detainees were mainly prisoners of war from the Azovstal complex;
F. whereas the United Nations confirmed that there are credible accusations that the Russian Federation has removed children from Ukraine to Russia for purpose of forced adoption as part of a large-scale forced relocation and deportation programme; whereas the Russian authorities have adopted a simplified procedure to grant Russian citizenship to children without parental care from Ukraine, who would be eligible for fast-track adoption by Russian families;
G. whereas international law and practise prohibit adoption during or immediately after emergencies; whereas children separated from their parents during a humanitarian emergency cannot be assumed to be orphans; whereas every opportunity should be provided for family reunification;
H. whereas Ukrainian authorities stated clearly that procedures for national and intercountry adoptions of Ukrainian children cannot be carried out in any state in the world during the martial law in Ukraine;
I. whereas during “filtration” Ukrainian citizens are subject to detailed interrogation, body searches involving forced nudity, torture; whereas in such circumstances Ukrainian women and girls are at risk of sexual exploitation;
J. whereas Russia uses filtration, relocation and deportation of civilians from areas it occupies as a tool of depopulation; whereas Ukrainian civilians are being forcibly relocated to economically depressed areas in Russia, often thousands of miles away and left with no means of returning; whereas this is part of Russia’s effort to cement political control over occupied areas by eliminating Ukrainians believed to be loyal to the authorities in Kyiv and by diminishing the Ukrainian identity through depopulation and thus may be considered as alleged genocide; whereas Russia has a proven track record of systematic practises of forced deportations;
K. whereas forced deportations from Ukraine, facilitated by the so-called “filtration camps”, replicate strong historical parallels with forced mass Soviet deportations and Gulag concentration camps;
L. whereas a distorted narrative of World War II lies at the basis of Kremlin’s propaganda justifying the war of aggression waged by Russia against Ukraine today; whereas historical revisionism, revival of the Stalin cult, and glorification of the Soviet regime are promoted by the Russian authorities; whereas historical disinformation is actively spread by the Kremlin in the EU and its neighbourhood to polarize societies and to justify Russia’s aggression and territorial ambitions towards formerly Soviet-occupied territories;
1. Expresses its utmost outrage and indignation over reported atrocities, forced deportations, displacements, attacks against civilians trying to flee conflict areas which amount to gross violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes;
2. Expresses serious concern related to numerous reports of forced relocation and deportation of Ukrainian children, including those from institutions, to the Russian Federation and their adoption by Russian families in breach of Ukrainian and international law, in particular Article II of UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;
3. Demands the immediate stop of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which has led to massive forced deportations of Ukrainians to the Russian Federation;
4. Demands from the Russian Federation to immediately halt its systematic forced filtration, relocations and deportations of Ukrainian citizens, including children, from Russian controlled and held areas of Ukraine; calls on Russia to provide outside independent observers access to so called filtration facilities and to forced deportation relocation areas in Russia;
5. Stresses that the unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the IV Geneva Convention on the protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and thus constitutes a war crime; reminds that adoption of children during and immediately after an emergency is a breach of international law;
6. Demands that Russian authorities release all Ukrainian citizens forcefully removed or coerced into leaving Ukraine the provide them the ability to promptly and safely return home;
7. Notes strong historical parallels between Russia’s crimes in Ukraine and Soviet crimes across Soviet-occupied territories; recognizes mass Soviet deportations, ordered, planned and executed by the Soviet communist regime and the entire Gulag system as crime against humanity, calls for a legal evaluation of the Soviet crimes at the European level;
8. Condemns persistent efforts by Russian authorities and regime-sponsored propagandists to spread historical disinformation to justify its war of aggression and support its hybrid attacks against European democracies; deplores the revival of Stalin’s personal cult in Russia, whitewashing of Soviet crimes, state-sponsored denial and distortion of historical facts; emphasizes the importance of common European remembrance, historical research, and education of the totalitarian past to strengthen civic awareness and build resilience to disinformation;
9. Emphasizes the importance of common European remembrance, historical research, and education of the totalitarian past to strengthen civic awareness and build resilience to disinformation;
10. Calls upon the EU institutions, in particular the European Commission together with the EASS and Member States to initiate the necessary proceedings at the EU level:
– to establish a Special Tribunal for the punishment of the crime of aggression committed against Ukraine and its people by the Russian Federation;
– to take part in the ICC proceedings on this matter and support an investigation launched by the ICC Prosecutor into alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide committed in Ukraine;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the government and parliament of the Member States, and the president, government and parliament of Ukraine.
- [1] https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf
- [2] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/irenebenedicto/ukrainian-children-russia-orphans-mariupol?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bfsharetwitter&fbclid=IwAR0Nh2ZvA3J3N4IKzojGMlwKChl0_-Pblk9yD-4hX1bvBsQFJajkBI8Q5MU
- [3] https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/07/29/7360898/