Andriy Kostin has been serving as Ukraines Prosecutor Common since July 2022. At the moment, Ukrainian authorities and legislation enforcement officers have been being flooded with an unprecedented quantity of photos, movies, and different knowledge from Ukrainian civilians documenting alleged struggle crimes and human-rights violations dedicated by Russian troops.
Kostins workplace is working a database to gather all of this info, and has arrange web sites and chatbots to assist Ukrainians categorize and submit digital proof. Now, after 20 months of struggle, TIME spoke to Kostin in Kyiv about how his workplace is growing new methods to research proof to construct and prosecute war-crimes circumstances with the assistance of expertise corporations and worldwide companions.
Q: In the case of prosecuting struggle crimes on this battle, theres an awesome quantity of video and picture proof being submitted in actual time, in addition to corroborating knowledge from digital sources, satellite tv for pc photos, cellular phone suppliers. In what methods does this match into the normal framework used to prosecute struggle crimes, and the way are you doing issues in another way?
A: We’re doing one thing which has not been accomplished earlier than. I feel an important problem for us is to make sure complete accountability. First we’re wanting on the outdated parts [and lessons] of the outdated varieties of struggle crimes. In all earlier wars and conflicts, everybody was focused on crimes towards the bodily safety of peoplepeople who have been killed, wounded, assaulted, and humiliated. They have been additionally setting requirements which we now use as precedent in our circumstances. For instance with regards to conflict-related sexual violencethe worldwide neighborhood has invested plenty of assets into the correct investigation of these kind of crimes and ready plenty of options specializing in a sufferer or survivor-centered method.
Learn Extra: How Ukraine Is Crowdsourcing Digital Proof of Warfare Crimes
Extra From TIME
These at the moment are included in our personal strategic paperwork and all of our investigators and prosecutors use them. Now, on this battle, have been additionally increasing and a wider vary of struggle crimes.
Q: What sort of struggle crimes are you specializing in which have by no means been prosecuted earlier than?
As an example, crimes towards the atmosphere [including damage to nuclear facilities, and environmental destruction and pollution that will negatively impact Ukrainians health for generations.] The dialogue on the worldwide degree is far more energetic now than it even was one 12 months in the past, since we began to allocate assets to analyze environmental crimes. Nevertheless it’s necessary, as a result of these crimes are and will probably be dedicated globally. And those that will commit them in different components of the world will see that there at the moment are the instruments and requirements to analyze and prosecute them, as a result of have been creating strategic paperwork.
We’re additionally now investigating or prosecuting cyber assaults as struggle crimes, that are very tough to analyze. Its by no means been accomplished earlier than. However have been doing it with the assistance of our companions, particularly Palantir and Microsoft, who’re prepared to assist us as a result of additionally they perceive that in wanting deeply into such conditions and investigating them as struggle crimes, we are able to spotlight them to such an extent that many others will look very rigorously [before committing them]. This can be a terrorist conduct. So it is essential that we cowl these new avenues.
Q: How are you utilizing expertise and new digital instruments to gather and analyze proof?
With the intention to construct these circumstances, we frequently have to make use of proof that’s not sufficient on the first look. If a witness says one thing occurred to them, we have to determine the perpetrator, which is essentially the most difficult activity within the every day work of our prosecutors, and for that we’ll use all parts of latest applied sciences which regularly is the one useful gizmo now we have.
As an example, there have been civilians who have been attacked by Russian forces whereas making an attempt to evacuate, and survivors went to investigators. They might determine the precise place the place it occurred. When the territory was liberated, we have been capable of finding the paperwork of the [Russian] items, which had birthdays and another knowledge. Then we used [open-source intelligence] devices to research their social networks with the assistance of NGOs and civil-society organizations. I’ve a particular platform in my workplace, the Worldwide Council of Consultants, the place greater than 45 NGOs are serving to us on struggle crimes accountability. So we have been in a position to determine most of them. And once we confirmed these to the survivors, who had interacted with the Russian [troops], they might affirm it: I noticed this face.
Learn Extra: The Crime Scene Left Behind at a Summer time Camp in Bucha.
A few of these circumstances are already in courtroom in Kyiv [where the International Criminal Court has opened an office]. Weve used Palantir as a singular instrument to [analyze] all the information, and Microsoft for voice recognition in circumstances the place perpetrators have been calling for genocide and an aggressive struggle. All of this helps a lot as a result of these are distinctive instruments to research voices and faces to construct the circumstances. And we’re additionally [getting close] to utilizing extra synthetic intelligence to go over the lots of of terabytes of picture, video, voice, and so on.
Q: How are you amassing the proof you want from the greater than six million Ukrainian refugees overseas, and hundreds of thousands extra displaced civilians contained in the nation? How are worldwide companions serving to with this?
Creating these technological instruments is not only about [identifying perpetrators] but in addition about not dropping any proof that can be utilized to construct the case. Authorized interplay between totally different jurisdictions is at all times a problem. There could also be proof in a regional workplace, or coming from a quickly displaced individual in Ukraine, and different items of proof which will seem someplace in Poland or in Germany the place somebody got here to the police. If we put collectively all three about the identical occasion, they are going to complement one another and full this puzzle.
There are additionally different new instruments, just like the Core Worldwide Crimes Proof Database (CICED). Its a brand new database, completely secured, the place you possibly can embody info for joint investigations. We have now 1000’s and 1000’s of Ukrainians [submitting reports] in numerous nations. It took multiple 12 months to make it occur, and it was essential that the European Union [Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation] actually invested in it. Now, if one individual in Germany or Poland or the Czech Republic involves a police officer and tells them one thing that occurred in Bucha, they are going to maintain it rigorously within the file. This database will probably be totally operational in November.
Q: Given the huge quantity of digital proof, and the truth that its being submitted in actual time because the struggle is ongoing, can the worldwide justice system sustain?
The judicial course of in some events must be extra fast, as a result of justice could be denied when it’s delayed. We’re additionally in fixed dialogue with Ukrainian courts [to prioritize war-crime cases]. For a lot of of our victims and survivors, it is necessary to even have these [prosecuted] in absentia, so that they know that we did the whole lot potential to revive their dignity.
We’ll use each authorized avenue, and we’ll use each expertise to give you a means.
