THE HAGUE, Netherlands ¨C Prosecutors investigating war crimes cases in Ukraine are examining allegations of the forcible deportation of children to Russia since the invasion as they seek to build a genocide indictment, the country¡¯s top prosecutor said in an interview.
International humanitarian law classifies the forced mass deportation of people during a conflict as a war crime. ¡°Forcibly transferring children¡± in particular qualifies as genocide, the most serious of war crimes, under the 1948 Genocide Convention that outlawed the intent to destroy ¡ª in whole or in part ¡ª a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who is overseeing multiple war crimes inquiries in Ukraine, said ¡°we have more than 20 cases about forcible transfer of people¡± to Russia from various regions across the eastern European country since the invasion began on Feb. 24.
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