A lawyer accredited at the Hague court records war crimes of the Russian Federation in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions

Lawyer Achille Campagna in Kherson, April 2024, photo from special archive

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, hundreds of activists and lawyers have begun the painstaking work of prosecuting war crimes. Achille Campagna, a San Marino-based lawyer accredited to the International Criminal Court, is one of those currently providing legal representation.

In a conversation with NikVesti, he told what his team encountered while working in the South and what it feels like to be a person who investigates war crimes.

This is not the first visit of Achille Campagna to Ukraine. The first place of the specialist's work was de-occupied from the Russian army Kyiv region. In all regions that managed to capture the enemy, the most terrible tool of abuse was torture.

«What did I see on the territory of the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions? Consequences of genocide. The Russians used elements of torture for this. I started working on war crimes cases in the Kyiv region, in particular in Bucha. Both here and there for the Russians, the main task was to target those Ukrainians who manifested a pro-Ukrainian stance, and therefore the best thing that helped them in this was torture,» says Achille Campagna.

Achille Campagna, Norito Kunisue and Ken Endo at a meeting with representatives of Kherson RMA

Kunisue Norito, professor of the Research Center for Advanced Sciences and Technologies of the University of Tokyo, who visited Kherson together with Achille, says that the only thing that distinguishes the crimes in Bucha from those committed in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions is the shorter time of occupation. For almost 8 months, the Russians inflicted an extremely large amount of psychological and physical violence on civilians in the south.

«I was in Kherson and in the liberated Kyiv region. The difference between them is that Kherson was under Russian occupation much longer. Here we will talk more about strong psychological pressure. There are a lot of people killed everywhere, but the psychological violence suffered by people is more in the south. Therefore, more help from the community is needed. I arrived in Ukraine in September 2022 and invested my stay experience,» says Kunisue Norito.

In Kherson, Campagna visited the torture chambers where the Russians kept Ukrainians, photo from personal archive

Prosecution before an international court is not an easy process, says Campagna. After all, the composition of the International Criminal Court (ICC) must also provide an assessment of the crime. In addition, it is complicated by the fact that it is now impossible to legally punish criminals, because the current authorities of the Russian Federation simply will not extradite these people. Moreover, the aggressor country repeatedly ignored the demands of international organizations.

«Can we detain Russian criminals or no is a difficult question. But one day the situation may turn out to be such that Russia, upon a change of power, will begin to cooperate with Ukraine on this issue and bring criminals to justice. Here, the role of who exactly the case concerns — the state of Russia or an individual who committed crimes against the Ukrainian people — plays a role? In the past, commanders of the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, — note) were detained in the same way. But detention is not a requirement for financial compensation. If we obtain a judgment that liability has been established, we may receive compensation from Western Assets. This is one of the ways of my work. From what we know publicly, this is the issuance of an arrest warrant has been issued against Vladimir Putin and the Children's Ombudsman of the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Bielova, in connection with the illegal deportation and transfer of minors from the occupied territories of Ukraine and against certain generals, as well, of the Russian army for attack against the civilian population. We cannot know for sure what cases the prosecutor's office is conducting,» says Campagna.

One of the real results in the fight should be receiving financial compensation, the lawyer believes. We are talking about providing Ukraine with frozen Russian money in the European Union, which is 300 billion dollars. However, a problem arises here, because in order to transfer at least part of these funds to the victims, individual countries that are not at war with the Russian Federation are discussing some legal issues before allowing their transfer.

«I am personally trying to work and find a way to get compensation. Frozen Russian assets abroad amount to approximately 300 billion dollars. I think that part of these assets of the Russian Federation should be given to the victims in Ukraine. But even with this there is a problem, because different countries have different laws, and you need to find the right way to use these funds. This is an extremely difficult topic of an international level. I am working to get at least a minimal part of these funds. First of all, Ukraine needs to be provided with support in defense and protection, but the victims should receive a part of it. For example, we are studying a way to implement Ukrainian judges' in Italy. This would be the first application of this type in history in Italy,» the lawyer claims.

Head of Kherson RMA Oleksandr Prokudin, Achille Campagna, Norito Kunisue and Ken Endo

Today, Achille Campagna works with more than 60 cases from various affected regions in Ukraine, among them 10 of them are Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.

Campagna says that in the south, the perpetrators who led interrogations were mostly representatives of the FSS and Rosgvardia. Various units of the Russian army were stationed in small villages, but the residents of LDNR (residents of internationally unrecognized republic of Russia, comprising the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, — note) always stand out for their particular brutality.

«I have seen the consequences of airstrikes, I know of a large number of cases involving the killing of civilians. For example, in the Kherson region, I encountered an excessive number of cases of torture. It's a heinous crime, really. It psychologically kills a person. It's easy for you and me to talk about it, but imagine what a trauma it is for the victim. It should be investigated not only by the ICC, but also by other international bodies, because it plays a big role for the victims. We have brought some cases for the ECtHR (European Court of Human Rights), the Human Rights Committee, we will do the same here. I was in the torture chambers of Kherson. Together with the head of the regional police and the head of the RMA, we reviewed the video and photos of what happened there. Emotionally it is very difficult, but this is my job,» explains Achille Campagna.

The main cases with which international law works in Ukraine today are shelling of civilian objects, destroyed objects of critical infrastructure, deportation of Ukrainian citizens, sexual violence, torture, illegal detention, and looting of state and private property. Campagna notes that more effective investigations of cases are possible if specialists from Europe are involved in them.

«It seems that there are no such crimes that have not been committed in Ukraine. For example, I have not yet submitted rape cases to the ICC. It is very difficult to work with it. Understand that a big role here is also played by the fact that women are not always ready and able to talk about it. The fact that I am a man also plays a role. A victim of sexual violence will not always be able to easily talk about it with her husband, even when she might want to contribute to investigate the crime. It is certainly necessary to create groups of Ukrainian and European lawyers for a higher quality of work. Obtaining evidence in some cases is very difficult. It is precisely these groups of lawyers who should work in such cases,» the lawyer believes.

CampagnaLawFirm representatives near the stele at the entrance to liberated Kherson, photo from personal archive

At the same time, Campagna admits that the international community's attention to the war in Ukraine is waning. This, in his opinion, was preceded by the forgotten memory of the consequences of the terrible world war of 1939-1945.

«Today's war has more tools for disseminating information. This is a plus. It gives a vision of the facts to the international community. But the world is not very aware of what is happening in Ukraine. They forgot that until recently there was the Second World War, the memory has passed. It is my opinion. People wake up, go about their daily business,» he says.

Japanese political scientist and journalist Ken Endo shares a similar opinion. Until a person is personally at the epicenter of events, he will not feel pain from the injustice of this war, he says.

«The war in Ukraine is discussed very superficially in Japan. I am as a political scientist, a person who is faced with these situations, having gone to Kherson, felt all this otherwise. I saw burnt houses, I heard stories about rapes, murders. Here I felt globally all the injustice of this war. Yesterday we also saw people who survived torture, and it is very difficult,» says Ken Endo.

At the end of the conversation, the Italian lawyer added that the first evil that Russia did was the invasion in 2014. Unpunished evil gave birth to a full-scale war, the end of which should be the defeat of the Russian army.

«Ukraine must win, I say this not only as a man. I say this as a lawyer. Russia destroyed the international legal order. This victory is needed not only by Ukrainians, but also by the whole world. We cannot speak of justice if the Russians win. Invasion was their first crime. And the unpunished evil at that time gave birth to even worse consequences that you see today. We are working and our goal is justice and financial compensation for Ukraine,» sums up Achille Campagna.

Alisa Melik-Adamian, NikVesti