THE HAGUE: The EU’s judicial cooperation agency (Eurojust) on Thursday unveiled what it said was a “game changing” data centre to collect and analyse evidence of crimes in Ukraine, invaded by Russia a year ago.

The Hague-based body and Ukraine also backed the European Union’s announcement to coordinate a probe into crimes committed after the invasion. “We expect this database to be fully operational by summer this year,” Eurojust president Ladislav Hamran said.

“This database is a real game changer in the prosecution of core international crimes,” he told journalists.

The centre will gather, store and analyse evidence presented by prosecutors of EU member states and other countries represented at the agency, including Britain and the United States. Digital evidence that can be submitted for storage include pictures, video recordings, satellite and drone images and witness statements.

This will allow prosecutors to “not only shed light on individual offences, but also on the systemic actions behind it” and “lead to more and faster national investigations,” Hamran said.

The data centre will work in tandem with a new office at Eurojust to prosecute crimes in Ukraine. Kyiv’s representative at the agency, Myros­lava Krasnoborova, said over 71,000 alleged war crimes and more than 16,000 crimes against national security was being probed in Ukraine.

There have been growing calls for an independent tribunal to prosecute Russia for crimes of aggression.

A successful war crime prosecution requires a high standard of proof, in a situation where access to suspects and crime scenes is often restricted and there is overlapping jurisdiction between national and international courts.

Ukrainian war crimes prosecutors are working with mobile justice teams supported by international legal experts and forensic teams. They have been investigating alleged violations of international law since Feb 24, 2022, mainly in the south and east, where land has been recaptured from Russian forces.

Domestic courts are focusing on “direct perpetrator” crimes, and 26 war crime suspects have been tried and convicted of rape and murder, shelling of residential infrastructure, cruel treatment and pillaging. A total of 276 individuals have been charged with war crimes. But trying to hold Russian leaders accountable for actions committed on their orders will most likely take years.

What can ICC do?

War crimes could be prosecuted either in Ukraine’s own courts, in international tribunals, or in a handful of national authorities investigating under “universal jurisdiction” laws. The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is investigating war crimes as well as broader crimes against humanity and genocide, and is expected to focus on high-profile suspects.

Since his investigation was launched a year ago, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has visited Ukraine three times.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2023