On Wednesday 21 September, the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) and the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, published guidelines to assist civil society organisations in recording information relating to international crimes. They hope to facilitate the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“With the war in Ukraine, peace and justice are under the most severe pressure, and accountability for core international crimes and violations of human rights is more than ever essential for international criminal justice”, said Eurojust President Ladislav Hamran.
These guidelines are intended to facilitate the collection and preservation of evidence on crimes. They seek, inter alia, to protect vulnerable witnesses, and to facilitate the management of documents, digital information or objects, etc. The two bodies have, for example, drawn up a checklist with practical principles and steps to follow.
Civil society organisations are also invited to attend a technical briefing on the guidelines on 6 October.
See the guidelines: https://aeur.eu/f/376 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)