On 6 June 2024, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) filed an Article 15 Communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, regarding speech crimes by Russian political and media figures, including Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Kiselyov, and Vladimir Solovyov. This marks an important step in the direction of accountability for hate speech and incitement to genocide.

The Communication, covering the period since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, was produced in conjunction with several organisations as co-contributors, including the Essex Digital Verification Unit (DVU). Over several months in early 2024, members of the DVU contributed to the project, analysing statements by Dmitry Kiselyov and Vladimir Solovyov to identify possible instances of incitement.

An Article 15 Communication is a submission to the Prosecutor of the ICC, which aims to draw their attention to possible human rights violations. The Communication outlines the situation, the individuals it is brought against, as well as the alleged crimes that the Communication proposes for investigation. The Prosecutor will consider the facts presented, and on their basis might decide to start an investigation of the activities mentioned, which, in turn, might lead to arrest warrants against the persons behind these activities.

As a result of the research, numerous inflammatory statements by these figures were identified and analysed. They included the denial of the existence of Ukrainians as a separate nation, accusations of Nazism towards Ukrainian leadership and citizens, as well as calls to carry on the war against Ukraine until the said “Nazism” is destroyed. All of these statements were recorded and forwarded to FIDH in order to be used in preparation of the Article 15 Communication.

“Hateful rhetoric has played a crucial role in Russia’s criminal campaign in Ukraine”, stated FIDH. It added that “Our organisations believe that in the context of crimes against humanity hate speech is a separate offense that warrants greater scrutiny by the International Criminal Court. Our Communication provides ample evidence substantiating the need to further investigate these acts and ultimately issue arrest warrants.”

Dr. Matthew Gillett, Senior Lecturer at Essex Law School and a leader of the Essex DVU, contributed to the writing of the Article 15 Communication itself, and its launch on 6 June 2024. As a former international prosecutor and the co-producer of the Hartford Guidelines on Speech Crimes under International Criminal Law, he was glad to see the guidelines used as a basis for this ground-breaking speech crimes Communication to the ICC.

The Essex DVU’s mission is to enhance global investigations into human rights violations through the application of open-source research methodologies. Its activities leverage the transformative advancements in digital communications technology in recent years, notably the ubiquitous use of social media platforms and smartphones, and the growing use of this technology to obtain evidence of human rights violations and atrocity crimes.