The Dutch Parliament endorses the establishment of the Hague Tribunal for Russian war crimes

On Oct. 20, the Dutch Parliament upheld the proposition to form a special tribunal to punish the abominable Russian war crimes against Ukraine. The D66 party deputy Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma wrote on Twitter, “Majority of Dutch parliament in favor of establishing a special tribunal to judge Russia’s act of aggression against Ukraine. We can and must bring Putin to justice.” 

The D66 is “an internationally minded liberal-democratic party that was founded in 1966.” One of the seven pillars that the Party stands for is security and freedom: “We need Europe for our peace and security. These should never be taken for granted: an erratic Putin at the borders of our continent…” D66 considers it the next logical step for The Hague to become a city where Putin and his military and political entourage can be tried.

As a reminder, during the 77th United Nations General Assembly, the Ukrainian World Congress called for the creation of the tribunal to punish Russian deadly aggression in Ukraine. “77 years ago, following the end of World War II, leaders of the international community established the United Nations as an instrument of maintaining peace and security, protecting human rights, upholding international law, and preventing future wars and horrors, such as genocide and war crimes. The international order is being brutally violated by the Russian Federation, which for seven months [at the time of speech] has been killing Ukrainians and destroying their homes,” stated Paul Grod, the President of the UWC and the head of the UWC delegation to the UNGA. 

On Sep. 22, 2022, President Zelensky created a special working group “that will deal with the creation of a Special International Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine…The working group is tasked with developing and making proposals regarding the creation of a Special International Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.”

The President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda publically supported the creation of such a tribunal and in his Sep. 20, 2022 Tweet said, “There must be no impunity for the war crimes & atrocities committed by Russia. Guaranteeing justice & accountability is of vital importance. Therefore, Lithuania supports the establishment of a Special Tribunal to address the war crimes in Ukraine.”