A coalition of dozens Ukrainian civil society groups has issued a statement in which they condemn UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres‘ visit to Russia, and his meeting with Vladimir Putin who is currently under ICC arrest warrant.
Guterres travelled to Kazan in Russia to attend the BRICS Summit (October 22-24), and he planned to have a meeting with Putin on the final day of the summit. The visit was met with harsh criticism, especially in light of Guterres’ earlier decision to decline his participation in the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland in 2024.
The NGOs, such as Fight for Right, Free Zone, The Reckoning Project, emphasized that Guterres’s visit undermines the ICC’s authority and UN value. They specifically referred to Uthe N’s own 2013 guidelines which state that “meetings with UN officials and people who are subject to ICC arrest warrants must be limited to the bare minimum for carrying out UN mandated activities.”
The statement said that “the Secretary-General’s trip to Russia and his official meetings with Putin undermine UN authority as an international moral guide, as well as the UN’s role as a neutral and reliable mediator in achieving a sustainable peace based upon justice and the rule law.”
The organizations called for the ICC Prosecutor’s Office, citing article 18 of the UN/ICC Relationship Agreement, to request any information that was obtained during Guterres’s meetings with Putin and could be relevant to investigations currently underway.
The groups also highlighted the cynical character of such meetings, while UN human right monitoring missions in Ukraine continue documenting systematic human rights violations during the conflict against civilians, including an increase in mass executions by Russian troops of Ukrainian POWs.
The NGOs emphasize that the following steps must be taken:
* The Assembly of States Parties of the Rome Statute, and other relevant UN bodies, respond to the current incident and take steps to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
* The International Criminal Court and ICC Prosecutor’s Office responded to this visit and meet as actions that undermined the authority of ICC Decisions and the investigation of most serious crimes which concern the entire International Community and threaten peace, safety, and well-being around the world.
* The ICC Prosecutor’s Office asks Mr. Antonio Guterres for any information he may have gathered during his meeting with Vladimir Putin, the suspect.
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