English Section

EU justice agency to help Ukraine preserve evidence of war crimes

30.05.2022 14:00
The European Union has adopted new rules to enable its justice agency to preserve, analyse and store evidence of core international crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, officials have said.
A group of Ukrainian protesters demonstrate in front of the EUs headquarters in Brussels on Monday to demand a ban on Russian oil.
A group of Ukrainian protesters demonstrate in front of the EU's headquarters in Brussels on Monday to demand a ban on Russian oil.Photo: EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ

The proposal was due to be approved on Monday by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to promptly enter into force, according to an announcement.

The new rules will allow the Eurojust agency to "store and preserve evidence relating to war crimes, including satellite images, photographs, videos, audio recordings, DNA profiles and fingerprints," officials said in a statement.

Under the new rules, the European justice agency will also be able to "process and analyse this evidence, in close cooperation with Europol, and share the information with the relevant national and international judicial authorities, including the International Criminal Court," the statement added.

Ukraine’s chief prosecutor Iryna Venediktova said last week she was investigating almost 14,000 cases of alleged war crimes by Russian forces in her country.

During a visit to London, she also revealed she had begun investigating allegations of genocide, according to a report by the BBC.

The EU, the United States and Britain last week announced the establishment of a joint group of experts to help document and analyze evidence of war crimes and other atrocities committed in Ukraine during Russia's invasion.

The United Nations Human Rights Council this month voted to set up an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian troops in Ukraine.

A Polish deputy justice minister told an international conference in Lithuania earlier in early May that Poland had collected more than 1,000 witness statements on Russian atrocities in Ukraine.

The Polish investigation is part of a wider probe by the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).

(gs)

Source: PAP, consilium.europa.eu