KIEV, October 2. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has come out with a proposal for drafting a concept of transitional justice for Donbass and Crimea.
Speaking at a meeting of the commission for legal reform on Wednesday Zelensky said "legal aspects of reintegration of temporarily occupied territories" were one of its priorities.
In his opinion for this it will be necessary to draft a "concept of transitional justice," which would include "measures to compensate for the damage sustained by war victims, bring to justice those responsible for committing grave crimes and let people exercise the right to obtain the truth about the events of the conflict."
Zelensky declared the need for a "strategy of de-occupation of temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and the east of the country, their return to Ukraine’s control and reintegration of the population."
"These are my answers to complex questions: what the people’s lives will be like after the restoration of control over Crimea and occupied parts of the east of the country, principles and forms of responsibility, and in some cases, immunity from it for cooperation with the authorities of occupation," Zelensky said.
After the government coup in Ukraine in February 2014 and the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovich mass protests followed in the mostly Russian-speaking east of the country.
The authorities of Crimea and Sevastopol made a decision to call a referendum on unification with Russia. More than 80% of those eligible to vote took part. The idea of unification with Russia was supported by 96.7% and 95.6% respectively. In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on the accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia.
In the meantime, in Donbass the new Ukrainian authorities began a military operation in the middle of April 2014. Massive bombardments of residential areas and air raids resulted in a humanitarian disaster in the region. The armed conflict has left more than 10,000 killed and more than 25,000 injured.
In an attempt to end the armed conflict in the east of Ukraine the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany launched peace negotiations in Minsk, which produced a package of peace settlement agreements. They provide for granting a special local self-government status to Donbass within Ukraine and general amnesty for the participants in the armed conflict.