‘Children’: The Attack on the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theatre in Mariupol, Ukraine

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5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The attack on the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theatre in Mariupol was a tragedy. It was also tragically emblematic of the plight of civilians living in Mariupol during the current conflict. Despite civilians’ efforts to escape the conflict by sheltering at the theatre, the war came to them, and many civilians were killed and horribly injured. Why these civilians were attacked is not known, but it is clear the attack lacked military necessity. The easily identifiable civilian activity at the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theatre, combined with the absence of any significant military presence, suggests that Russian forces most likely intentionally targeted the theatre knowing it was a civilian object, which is a war crime. The evidence also demonstrates that under any reasonable interpretation of the other three less likely scenarios – that the theatre was targeted believing it was a valid military objective, it was struck mistakenly during an attack on a different target, or it was struck as part of an indiscriminate attack – the attack would still amount to a war crime. Any investigators examining the incident, including those with the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC should carefully consider the most likely explanation for the incident, as well as the other plausible explanations, and investigate accordingly. The survivors of the attack, the families of the victims, and the population of Mariupol deserve this, at the very least.

RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION •

End all direct attacks on civilians, indiscriminate attacks, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Fully comply with the rules of international humanitarian law in the planning and execution of all attacks, including by reviewing the criteria for selecting targets, to ensure they do not lead to targeting of civilians and by taking all feasible precautions in planning and execution of attacks,

“ C H I L D R E N ” : T H E AT TA C K O N T H E D O N E T S K R E G I O N A L A C A D E M I C D R A M A T H E AT R E I N M A R I U P O L , U K R A I N E

Amnesty International

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