April 14, 2022, Riga, Latvia

MEMORANDUM

On stopping murder and maltreatment of children in Ukraine by applying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

International regulations on the rights of the child legally justify and demand a more radical response from the West to Russia's war crimes in Ukraine. The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) obliges its member states to cooperate in protecting the life and development of every child. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children as a specific group of people are an absolute priority, and that the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration when states make decisions. 

What has already been done to the children of Ukraine and continues with Russia's threats of further violence and the destruction of infrastructure could happen because of the failure of Western countries to comply with their international obligations as stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The West has not prioritized the rights of children in their decision-making due to a fear of Russia. 

For the entire past century, Russia’s regimes have committed genocide in dozens of small nations without any punishment. From a “red” communist threat Russia has turned into a fascist threat to children living in the free world of the 21 century. Hitler's regime in Germany had to bear consequences at the Nuremberg trials. Now we must stop and punish Russia for both the unpunished red and the current genocide against the Ukrainian people in order to give their and our children a safe and loving world.

It is deliberate killing and mutilation of children. It is irreversible brain altering, bearing psycho-emotional consequences, which affects an entire generation of children and young people, and which makes it mandatory for member states of the Convention to provide immediate and comprehensive military, humanitarian and legal aid to rescue the children and gene pool of Ukraine.

What is happening in Ukraine now is the result of the work that we have not done, which has become the fault and shame of all of us, State parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Almost a century after the Second World War, we have lived irresponsibly without a fast-acting system for the protection of our children against aggression. In February, March and April of 2022 the entirety of the UN, NATO, the EU, the United States, Canada and Australia were not able to protect the children of Ukraine - an out-of-bloc country that we have abandoned behind the “new Berlin Wall”.    

The world has ignored the warnings of the Baltic States about Russia’s resurgent and growing threats over the last 20 years. 

We, the undersigned, call for the State Parties of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to act radically and develop a system capable of defending children in Ukraine and in other democratic out-of-bloc states that have not joined NATO and the EU yet: 

I We demand the suspension of the destruction of the Ukrainian gene pool by Russia (by submitting an international note to Russia with justification and warning of an international decision to uphold the rights of the child in any way possible), ensuring the supply of all necessary weapons requested by the Ukrainian leadership and the airspace closed, to stop killing children, young people and their families and to stop the destruction of the infrastructure necessary for their existence.

II We call for the governments of the NATO and EU countries to convene an international tribunal for particularly serious war crimes against children and violations of children's rights in Ukraine, as defined in a number of international documents binding on all countries involved and given priority over all other groups of population. The Prosecutor General Offices of the UN CRC member states must collect all the necessary materials specifically on crimes against children in a coordinated manner from the population of Ukraine, displaced persons and refugees in order to facilitate the process.

III We call for the governments of the NATO and EU countries to establish a rapid reaction guarantee bloc for any further aggression in democratic out-of-bloc countries in Europe. This type of mechanism does not exist at present, as evidenced by the failure of the UN, NATO, EU and several out-of-bloc countries to stop Russian aggression in Ukraine, despite the dramatic losses of economic and human resources, half of the children of Ukraine having lost their homes, and the ongoing global economic downturn.

IV We call for Ukraine to join NATO, because it is the only way we can both help Ukraine and improve our future security by declaring effectively to the aggressors that people must have free will, not that of totalitarian, fascist empires.

We, “Glābiet bērnus - Latvian Protect the Children,” have put together a number of legally sound options for defending children in Ukraine and bringing the perpetrators to justice (see below).

We request that this document is to be distributed to the public as well as to decision-makers in all member states of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to be signed on an international online platform (www.change.org and submitted to all institutions that can help Ukranian children directly or indirectly.

The Memorandum was prepared by the NGO “Glābiet bērnus - Latvian Protect the Children” (“Latvian Save the Children” before 2015) having consultated Latvian lawyers and Constitutional and International court judges. Their porposals for legal solutions are as follows: 

1. The Preamble and Principle 8 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Preamble and Articles 4, 6, 22, 38, 39 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international documents lay down the rules for the participation of member states in mutual international support as well as the principle that children’s interests and affairs shall be given priority over any other interests and groups.

2. International humanitarian law, namely that governing warfare, requires the child to be afforded special protection. When cities and towns are being bombed, the Russian army does not have children in consideration at all. Consequently, there are clear and brutal violations of humanitarian law against the children of Ukraine. The principle of special protection for children can be found on the website of the International Committee of the Red Cross. https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/article/other/57jmat.htm 

3. Although not formulated by any country yet, the fate of children in Ukraine clearly points to particularly serious war crimes committed by Russia. Consequently, all organizations can respond to the call of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, namely, “International criminal investigations require the engagement of all those who may hold information relevant to our work. Witnesses, survivors and affected communities in particular must be empowered to actively contribute to our investigations". A special opportunity to communicate facts and evidence to the Prosecutor is provided here:  https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/item.aspx?name=20220311-prosecutor-statement-ukraine

4. There are special procedures within the UN Human Rights Council under which anyone can provide information on massive human rights violations and invite Council experts to communicate with Russia and request explanations:

https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures-human-rights-council/what-are-communications

“Any individual, group, civil-society organization, inter-governmental entity, or national human rights bodies can submit information to the Special Procedures. In order to keep track of submissions, you are encouraged to use a Special Procedure Submission online form. It includes fields of information that are both required and desirable for experts toexamine properly a case and take action as needed. Submission by ordinary mail may be delivered to OHCHR-UNOG, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneve 10, Switzerland.”

5. Communication with the Committee on the Rights of the Child can be established through a relatively new protocol, following admissibility requirements:

https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/optional-protocol-convention-rights-child-communications

6. Finally, an important UN mechanism is the UN Special Rapporteurs. There is a Special Rapporteur for children in areas of armed conflict. The Special Rapporteur needs to be contacted and everything that you will have to submit to the prosecutor should be submitted to all the above institutions. https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/

It is important to obtain stories and other types of evidence (e.g. photographs) from specific people. One can, for example, record stories from children in a Ukrainian city, or from children displaced within Ukraine, as well as stories from refugee children in their current countries of residence (e.g. the Children’s Clinical University Hospital in Riga, Latvia).

All of this will be of utmost importance in a subsequent trial in the International Court of Justice, in the current or new criminal court or an international tribunal. Everything that will have been registered through any of the official international procedures will be much easier to use as evidence in court proceedings. 

Therefore, your initiative and participation are invaluable! The government rhetoric that currently dominates is far too little. Court proceedings take a long time and require correctly and carefully collected data.

Everyone must be involved, each to the best of their ability, so that the future of our children in all of our countries is secure. 

Initiative group of the Memorandum:

Asoc.prof. Inguna Ebela
Glābiet bērnus – Latvian Protect the Children, chairperson

Prof. Ilze Grope
Latvian Pediatric Association, president

Prof. Indriķis Muižnieks
University of Latvia, Rector

Prof. Ivars Kalviņš
Latvian Academy of Sciences, president

Prof. Andrejs Ērglis
Head of PSKUS Centre for Cardiology in Latvia
Latvian Academy of Sciences, vice president

Anna Žīgure
Writer, Former ambassador of Latvia to Finland and Estonia

Velta Puriņa
Journalist

Renārs Zaļais
Latvian Association for the Members of the Barricades of 1991

Romualds Ražuks
Popular Front Museum, Public Council 

Prof. Valdis Segliņš
University of Latvia, vice rector

Ilze Auzere
Former senior vice president, Bank of America,
Latvian publicist

Sirje Kiin 
Estonian literary scholar, writer, journalist

Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Former president of Estonia

Marko Mihkelson
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia)

Pjatras Vaitekunas
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and Former Ambassador of Lithuania to Ukraine

Marju Rink-Abel
Estonian American National Council, president
Eesti Rahvuskomitee Ühendriikides esimees

Karl Altau
Managing Director of the Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC)

Prof. Gunta Roziņa
University of Latvia

Prof. Kristaps Zariņš
Acting Rector of the Art Academy of Latvia

Aurelia Juskeviciene
Director of Cancer Treatment Foundation, Lithuania