Statement on the Convening of the Ukraine Accountability Conference, 
The Hague, July 14, 2022

The Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) welcomes today’s Ukraine Accountability Conference at the Hague, coordinated together by the Government of the Netherlands with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the European Commission. This is an important and timely discussion to ensure that those who have committed atrocities during the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine will be held to account under international law. 

All of us at PILPG express our deepest support to the people of Ukraine. We are encouraged by the significant international participation and attention paid to accountability for atrocity crimes during today’s Ukraine Accountability Conference.

PILPG has designed and implemented robust programming to encourage and support accountability for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in close consultation with Ukrainian stakeholders and in support of the Ukrainian General Prosecutor and Government. Together with global law firm partners, we are interviewing individuals who have witnessed or experienced atrocity crimes due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine through our Ukraine Accountability Initiative. We provide free training resources for civil society organizations and individuals seeking to document the atrocities perpetrated in Ukraine. And in cooperation with our Ukrainian partners we have drafted legislation for a High War Crimes Court, which will be made publicly available on July 22. Looking forward, PILPG plans to advocate and develop strategic plans for a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression, which aims to hold Russian political leaders and military commanders and those of its allies to account for the invasion of Ukraine.

We support all roads towards justice, and look forward to aligning PILPG’s strategy on accountability with the forthcoming ministerial recommendations and with our Ukrainian, international, and UN partners. Without accountability, there can be no durable peace. We must align our efforts to ensure a peaceful future for Ukraine—and the world—becomes a reality.

- Dr. Paul R. Williams
PILPG Founder