The Board of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (RD4U) convened for its fourth meeting in The Hague on 2-6 September 2024. The Board continued its work to develop claim forms and rules for submission of claims to the Register.
In addition to the thirteen claim forms already adopted and in the process of being launched, the Board focused at this meeting on the claim forms and rules for sixteen further categories of claims. The claim forms and rules adopted by the Board are subject to approval by the Conference of Participants.
The Board made the following statement:
"Our main priority at this initial stage is the collection and recording of claims from those most profoundly impacted by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and thousands of claims have already been submitted by individuals for damage and destruction of their housing.
At our fourth meeting, we adopted claim forms and rules for the following sixteen categories:
- Involuntary displacement outside of Ukraine
- Serious personal injury
- Torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Sexual violence
- Deprivation of liberty
- Forced labour or service
- Deportation and forcible transfer of children and adults
- Loss of housing
- Loss of employment
- Loss of private enterprise
- Loss of access or control of immovable property in the temporarily occupied territories
- Damage or destruction of public buildings and facilities
- Damage or destruction of non-residential immovable property (not related to business losses)
- Damage, destruction or loss of assets
- Loss of control of property in the temporarily occupied territories
- Relocation (evacuation) of businesses
Once the claim forms and rules for these new categories are examined and approved by the Register’s Conference of Participants, they will be opened for submission through the Diia web portal upon technical implementation.
Building on our experience with residential property claims, the Register is adopting an iterative approach with a strong emphasis on careful development and rigorous testing of the digital claims submission system to avoid errors.
We are also giving significant attention to user-friendliness when developing the claims submission process to ensure that individuals from diverse backgrounds, can easily navigate and use the system. Particular emphasis is put on designing an intuitive interface with as much information as possible drawn automatically from other databases to reduce the time and effort required to submit claims.
The victim-centred approach is central to every aspect of the Register’s work and the prevention of re-traumatisation is crucial for safeguarding the dignity and well-being of victims.
Claim forms for the remaining claims categories, including those related to loss of historic, cultural and religious heritage, damage to the environment and natural resources, demining and clearance of unexploded ordnance, are being prepared.
The Register constitutes a vital step in securing timely compensation for the victims of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine and we strongly urge all those impacted to submit claims to the Register."
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