Global Rights Compliance Mobile Justice Team (GRC-MJT) met with prosecutors and investigators from the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office (RPO) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to address the key challenges in investigating and prosecuting war crimes and to outline the support GRC legal advisors will provide. GRC-MJT, together with prosecutors and investigators, also visited sites in Kharkiv that were targeted by Russian shelling.
According to the prosecutors, the most urgent priority is to concentrate resources on cases involving crimes committed in detention centers.
Spartak Borysenko, the head of the Administration for Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict of the Kharkiv RPO emphasized, “We have many qualified prosecutors and investigators, but the challenges we face are unique. Ukraine, like any other country, could not have been prepared to investigate such a number and scale of crimes, so international support is invaluable to us.”
Among the key challenges identified are the large scale of crimes committed, and circumstances preventing access to some crime sites, i.e., extensive mined areas, ongoing active combat in some districts, and parts of the oblast remaining occupied. Since the full-scale invasion began, nearly 25,000 war crimes have been registered, according to prosecutors. Since September 7, 2022, a total of 909 civilian bodies have been discovered in de-occupied areas of the Kharkiv region.
Wayne Jordash, President of GRC Foundation, agreed that prioritisation is critical for successful investigation and prosecution of war crimes.
“Given the number of crimes, resources must be allocated wisely. Prioritization will allow you to achieve several important accountabilty goals: to investigate crimes not as isolated incidents but to situate them within wider criminal patterns, and consequently track the chain of responsibility to hold higher command accountable.”
Over the next several months, GRC lawyers will support prosecutors and investigators in building cases against high-ranking perpetrators of war crimes.