The United States is “deeply concerned” by the meeting of Virginia Gamba, senior UN official on issues related to the fate of children in armed conflict, with the Russian Ombudsman for the Rights of the Child Maria Lvova-Belova , wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes.
That’s according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Wednesday.
Lvova-Belova, who is accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) war crimes prosecutor of deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia, said on her website last week that she had a working meeting with Gamba.
“We are deeply concerned that a senior UN diplomat has met with a fugitive against whom the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes against children,” Miller said during a briefing. press. “This behavior undermines our shared commitment to protect children in conflict zones.”
Recall that in March the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights to the President of the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova.
The ICC is an independent and permanent judicial body. It was created in accordance with the Rome Statute, signed on July 17, 1998 at an international conference in the Italian capital. Its jurisdiction extends to all the most serious international crimes committed after July 1, 2002, when the Rome Statute entered into force. The Court’s jurisdiction is limited to crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.
Prior to the creation of the ICC, special tribunals were created at the UN to investigate international war crimes.
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