Book Description

The authors of this report were asked to scope and identify what impact the Ukrainian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) could have in the war crimes space, namely assistance for victims, advocacy and public outreach, and what if any guidance the international NGOs could provide. The vibrancy of the Ukrainian CSOs is highlighted in the fact that over one hundred CSOs signed the Civil Society Manifesto (Lugano Declaration) in June 2022 as part of an agreement on common principles and a framework for the future. Wherever possible, the work of CSOs should complement that of the state mechanisms, ensuring that all evidence collected under the auspices of war crimes is admissible and the investigation process is not jeopardised. The needs of war crime survivors need to be better understood within the criminal justice system and the diverse work of CSOs needs to be better understood and coordinated to ensure best practice is achieved and maintained, and coordination improved. The extent to which a stigma attached to CRSV victims by society exists needs to be understood and, if present reduced, and women’s rights groups must be strengthened along with awareness campaigns of health care, legal services and public outreach. Pertinent to this report is the fact that there are many different themes and focuses in war crimes, for example, documentation, investigation, legal, perpetrators of war crimes, support of victims of war crimes and CRSV, their families and survivors, and also different types of war crimes, e.g., CRSV, forced displacement of people and children, cultural heritage destruction, etc. In conducting this report, in such a short space of time efforts were made to widen the gamut beyond investigations solely with a view to providing a report that includes: 1. A situation report of the key CSO players and stakeholders currently engaged in War Crimes investigations through to trial process. 2. An overview of the impact of CRSV on victims and witnesses in Ukraine, a clear assessment of the needs of those impacted by CRSV, and whether those needs are being sufficiently met 3. Identification of the key gaps and requirements to support victims and witnesses of war crimes in Ukraine 4. A range of practical support and interventions that would add value to the combined efforts for HMG to consider. The Inception Phase included desk-based research and interviews with Ukrainian and international actors operating in the areas of victim support (rather than accountability and investigations) including, but not limited to: · Victim and Witness services · Non-Government Organisations · Civil Society Organisations · Defence Lawyers (who are representing victims and families) · Media outlets and sources · Police and War Crime Investigators (re victim and witness handling) · Office of the Prosecutor General (and Public Prosecutors) responsible for victim support · Judiciary (for oversight of witness interaction) National subject matter experts Vadym Chovgan and Eugene Krapyvin conducted real time, in-country engagement in conjunction with Optima’s Rule of Law expertise and experience to analyse the findings and identify practical interventions that provide both operational and diplomatic benefits. This was done through: 1. Stakeholder Analysis Produced through research and open-source intelligence, focused interviews, questionnaires, literature review and media search, the stakeholder analysis has identified a number of the key players and the headlines of who is doing what, where they are doing it, what the current scale of their activities, what is their plan for growth, what’s the demand and what’s stopping them from meeting that demand. 2. Best Practice Analysis The Best Practice Analysis has provided examples of Ukrainian and International best practice as well as highlighted the most significant challenges in Ukraine. International examples of best practice have been taken from a number of conflicts including Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Iraq. 3. Gap Analysis and recommendations The Gap Analysis has drawn together the information from the Stakeholder Analysis and the Best Practice Analysis to provide an overview of who’s doing what, where and where there are gaps.