This month Mary Page’s guests to discuss Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and in particular the issue of prosecuting for war crimes and other human rights abuses committed by Russia in Ukraine, are two lawyers originally from Russia: Gleb Bogush and Sergey Golubok.
Mary’s Guests:
Gleg Bogush
Since May 2024, Dr. Gleb Bogush has been a research fellow at the Institute for International Peace and Security Law at the University of Köln. His main area of interest includes international criminal law, the law on the use of force, and international humanitarian law. Dr. Bogush is a member of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on the Use of Force and the Council of Advisors of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression (GIPA). He also serves on the editorial boards of the Criminal Law Forum and the Revue Internationale de Droit Pénal. He is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Luxembourg, where he teaches international criminal law.
Sergey Golubok
Sergey Golubok, a practising human rights lawyer, is a graduate of St Petersburg State University in Russia and holds a Master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex in the UK and has a Ph.D. in International Law and European Law. A laureate of the Moscow Helsinki Group Prize, he is a member of the St. Petersburg Bar Association and has taken a number of cases to the Russian Constitutional Court. A specialist in international human rights law, he is a Counsel admitted to practise before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. He is also a member of the Human Rights Committee of the European Criminal Bar Association.’
Mary’s Questions:
- Great efforts are being put into documenting war crimes and other human rights abuses committed by Russia during its war on Ukraine. What are the chances for prosecuting Russian actors?
- As you know, peace negotiations (such as they are) have primarily been between the US and Russia, and only more recently also involving Ukraine. How do you see these negotiations?
- How do you see the role of the EU, which in many respects, despite the support it is providing to Ukraine, seems to have been sidelined in the actual ‘negotiations’?
- In a wider global perspective, what does Russia’s war against Ukraine tell us about the current situation for human rights? Many observers see Russia’s behaviour as part of a context of an international decline in human rights. And as you know, questions have also been raised about the US adherence to human rights under President Trump.
- What is the role of international institutions – such as the UN and the Council of Europe – in the current situation?
- How do you see the role and effectiveness of civil society organisations in today’s climate – on the international level human rights NGOs such as, for example, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and more local groups such as the ZMINA Human Rights Center or the Crimean Human Rights Group in Ukraine?
- Finally, what is your prognosis for the future of human rights at this point in the 21st century?
