Ukraine: War Crimes Allegations

Lord Hogan-Howe Excerpts

Monday 4th April 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, if Karim Khan is following our debates in Hansard, as he often does, I am sure that he will have seen the noble Lord being consistent in asking the prosecutor to come to the UK. As I have said before, he has a lot on his plate, understandably, but we are working closely with him. On the next opportunity we will—and I will personally, when I next see him—extend that invitation for him to come here to hear what noble Lords, indeed all parliamentarians, have to say on this issue. We are working very closely. The appointment of Sir Howard underlines the importance of close co-ordination. The noble Lord will know that Sir Howard himself was a very distinguished judge at the ICC.

[Lord Hogan-Howe (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that the publication today of the pictures and name of the colonel named within the latest atrocities is a good development that might start to impact on the behaviour of the troops on the ground now rather than when it is too late? I agree entirely with the Government’s strategy, which is to support the international approach, get investigations started and collect evidence but, importantly, to get investigators on the ground as soon as possible. The images that are coming back clearly show evidence, literally on the ground—both in terms of people, sadly, and in physical terms—which will be lost. The sooner the investigators can safely get in there, the less will be lost and, frankly, the more people will be held to account. Our evidence from Yugoslavia is that the system works; it usually goes right to the top—exactly as it should—but the people on the ground need to be held to account for the murders, rapes and the other atrocities that we are seeing.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I agree with the noble Lord; he of course speaks with great insight and knowledge on various issues, particularly on investigations of crimes on the ground. The noble Lord, Lord Alton, talked about military and technical support as well as other police support, and I assure the noble Lord that this is the kind of technical support that we are giving to the Ukrainians. I am sure that noble Lords will have seen that President Zelensky himself was visiting Bucha this morning, and with him were experts who are gathering evidence as we speak. We are working absolutely hand in glove with them to provide whatever support they require at this important time.