Press release on a statement by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France regarding plans to create a Special Tribunal for Russia

We are outraged by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs statement regarding the plans to create a “special tribunal for the crimes of Russia’s aggression.” In addition to their attempts to involve the International Criminal Court, the Western countries have decided to push forward the idea of ​​creating another openly politicised "judicial" body which, in fact, has absolutely nothing to do with justice.

We never cease to be amazed by the cynicism of the French government. Emphasising that they “prioritise combating impunity” in Ukraine, the French Foreign Ministry refuses to acknowledge the multiple formally documented war crimes committed by the Ukrainian forces and deliberately hushes them up. For reasons unknown, over the past eight years, Paris has been turning a blind eye to Kiev’s lawless actions against the people of Donbass who continue to die to this day from daily artillery and missile attacks. They take no notice of the killings and abuse of civilians committed by the Ukrainian forces in the Kiev-controlled territories. Not long ago, shocking footage of the execution of unarmed Russian POWs by Ukrainian gunmen spread around the world. Under the passive eye of the self-appointed watchdogs allegedly in charge of the rule of law and human rights from the liberal democratic lot, year after year, the Kiev junta has been tirelessly instilling an atmosphere of total intolerance towards dissent and resorting to incredibly heinous forms of pressure against objectionable media and journalists and encouraging violence against them, including vile acts of physical violence. However, this does not matter a bit to the French authorities. All that matters is what Kiev’s emissaries and the propaganda of that criminal regime report to them.

We demand that French diplomats, who are so sensitive about human rights issues, not divide people into “right” and “wrong”, “their own” and “others.” Of the numerous teams of lawyers and crime experts that France is sending to Ukraine, at least someone should look into the widely covered atrocities committed by the Ukrainian nationalists and visit Russian territories that are subjected to the Ukrainian forces’ artillery and missile fire.

This is not the first time that we are encountering Western countries’ hypocrisy in the humanitarian aftermath of hostilities. The crimes committed by the United States and its allies in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, to name a few, which led to numerous civilians being killed with weapons manufactured by the US or European defence companies, can be clearly seen by the people of these countries, their neighbours in the regions, and everyone else who is not part of the notorious “golden billion.” This attempt by the Western countries to quickly cobble together a quasi-judicial mechanism, unparallelled in its legal nihilism, is yet another example of the double standards practiced by the West. This insider system will never have jurisdiction over Russia.

It is particularly strange to hear such statements coming from Paris. The war crimes committed by the French during colonialism, in Algeria during the war of independence, then in Indochina and, most recently, in Libya, remained unpunished and stripped France of the moral right to make statements of that kind. We can’t remember the French Foreign Ministry ever being as vocal in prioritising the above events. We suggest that Paris start by creating a special tribunal for its own crimes committed during colonial wars, various punitive operations, and interventions in various parts of the world.