Europol has set up a new operational working group to assist in ongoing investigations into major international crimes committed in Ukraine following the invasion of the country by Russian armed forces in February 2022. This is reported by the National Police of Ukraine, reports UNN.
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The Working Group should help identify suspects and their involvement in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide crimes committed in Ukraine by collecting and analyzing open source intelligence (OSINT).
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Since the outbreak of the war, OSINT has been available online at an unprecedented level, mainly due to the growing importance of the Internet and social media.
such intelligence data can significantly help investigators in checking and recording cases of war crimes committed.
the group is managed by the Dutch police's international crime division (Nationale Politie) and the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) with the support of Europol and its major international crime analysis project (AP CIC).
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currently, 14 countries have agreed to appoint special OSINT units to the Working Group to support priority requests from Ukraine, other countries and the International Criminal Court.
participating countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Norway, United Kingdom, United States of America.
the group may also seek support and cooperation from non-members of the group, EU agencies, non-governmental organizations or private companies.
Recall
in Vilnius, members of the Joint Investigation Team for the investigation of serious international crimes in Ukraine (JIT – Joint Investigation Team)signed an agreement on the investigation of crimes genocide