Last week, Global Rights Compliance, together with the European Union Advisory Mission and Office of the Prosecutor General, have conducted a training on investigating and prosecuting international crimes committed in places of detention for prosecutors and investigators of the Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad and Zhytomyr regions.
During the first day of the training, Anastasiia Moiseieva and Olha Kotlyarska, Deputy Leads of GRC’s Mobile Justice Teams, have delivered a presentation on the typology of war crimes and crimes against humanity that take place in detention centres, laying out the conditions under which the very fact of detention constitutes a violation, types of evidence relied on to prove the crimes and bring those responsible to justice, as well as the practice of international courts and tribunals in prosecuting such crimes. This presentation was delivered alongside Anna Sosonska, Deputy Head of the Second Division of the Department for Countering Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict of the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG), who outlined the law and approaches pertaining to investigating and prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence in places of detention.
During the second day of the training, Anastasiia Moiseieva joined Taras Semkiv, Head of the Second Division of the Department for Countering Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict of the OPG, in delivering a presentation on a procedural interview, aimed at enhancing skills of working with survivors.
Taras Semkiv: “Given the scale of international crimes committed in places of detention in the Russian Federation, it is essential to involve regional units of the Security Service of Ukraine and regional prosecutors’ offices from areas away from the front line. At the same time, training plays a key role in ensuring compliance with national and international standards when gathering evidence, particularly during interrogations. Prosecutors and investigators who are familiar with best practices for documenting war crimes and communicating with survivors of violence will make a real contribution to restoring justice.”
The aim of this broad training programme is to enhance the knowledge of regional prosecutors and investigators from central parts of Ukraine on how to investigate and prosecute international crimes committed in detention places. This training programme is delivered as part of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group cluster.
Anna Sosonska: “The training session, which was held for investigators and prosecutors, marked the first stage of their specialisation in the prosecution of international crimes committed in places of detention. The challenge lay in designing the training programme as logically and concisely as possible, and fitting several key modules on professional development, the implementation of victim-centred approaches, and practical exercises on interviews using the PEACE method into a two-day schedule; however, according to the participants’ feedback, we succeeded and they left the training with a positive impression”.
GRC’s MJTs are part of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, a multilateral initiative established by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom to support Ukrainian law enforcement and prosecutors in investigating and prosecuting international crimes committed in the context of the full-scale armed conflict.