In response to the growing number of armed conflicts - which, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), have doubled in the last five years - and the consequent increase in war crimes, a new four-year project hosted by the European Union’s judicial cooperation unit, Eurojust, was launched on 12 February.
With a view to broadening the scope of action against impunity, the National Authorities Against Impunity Project (IMPNA) should make it possible to consolidate partnerships with countries outside the European Union in order to condemn war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
And with good reason: with the Member States constituting the majority of countries that launch investigations and prosecutions into these atrocities, this openness is a necessity for universal jurisdiction, the scope of which is by definition international.
Expanding to a greater number of regions, as well as a range of situations, would in fact lead to a reduction in the number of “safe havens”, as Eurojust calls them, for perpetrators of war crimes.
IMPNA activities are aimed at two groups of stakeholders engaged in the global fight against impunity for core international crimes: civil society organisations working to document both these crimes and serious human rights violations in order to demand accountability at national, regional and international levels; and national authorities in EU and non-EU countries - prosecutors, law enforcement officers, judges - who are involved in national investigation and prosecution.
The project, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships from October 2024 to September 2028, is implemented and hosted by Eurojust and the ‘Genocide Network’ Secretariat, based at the agency.
For further information: https://aeur.eu/f/fje (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)