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While investigating war crimes, Ukrainian officials are using, in addition to modern technology, the experience gained from other wars, including those during the break-up of Yugoslavia. Experts say the evidence is harder to hide today than it was during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it will still take years to investigate crimes and search for missing persons.
Although less than four months have passed since the beginning of the Russian aggression, Ukraine has handed down the first sentences against Russian soldiers for war crimes. Experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have years of experience in searching for the missing, investigating war crimes and the functioning of international justice, say Ukrainian authorities still have a long way to go, which will take years.
“What seems clear to all of us must be proven in court. The fact that a grenade fell on a lawn and killed someone has to be proven in court. This means that it must be determined where the grenade was thrown from, who is responsible for it, who ordered it, what the chain of command was. This is a very serious and demanding discipline. “Everything else comes later: honor, memory, culture of remembrance,” said Emir Suljagic, of the Srebrenica Memorial Center.
Voice of America interviewees say the presence of modern technologies, from smartphones to satellite imagery, makes it easier for Ukraine to document war crimes.
“It’s different from Bosnia in the 1990s, when it was much easier to hide evidence. So I think that with a coordinated action of the various authorities, from the Ukrainian prosecutors, to the International Criminal Court, to various other sources, who can help to get this evidence, there is enough evidence to establish a “There is a very clear line between crimes, victims, perpetrators and leaders,” said Refik Hodzic of the European Institute for Peace.
According to the UN, since the beginning of the Russian attack, more than 4,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, but there are concerns that the figure is much higher. Experts say the Bosnian example shows that the passage of time is one of the main factors influencing the collection of evidence.
“It is very important to determine as soon as possible whether people are alive or not, whether they are imprisoned, killed, buried, individually, or in mass graves. It is very important for the subsequent sequence of events, to collect and systematize this information, to create a database, which will enable an accelerated search for the missing in the post-war period, as well as finding the places of the cemetery “and the exhumation of victims,” said Amor Masovic, former head of the Institute for Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“If you are not at the scene immediately, after committing the crime, this is the first obstacle. Another obstacle may be the planned and deliberate steps that Russian forces are taking to cover up the crimes they have committed. Another obstacle is witnesses. We do not know if there are witnesses. “Evidence becomes increasingly uncertain over time, it is easier to change people’s minds, or discredit them,” said Emir Suljagic, director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center.
Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, recently said she had identified more than 600 Russians suspected of war crimes, while prosecutions have already begun on 80 suspects. Russia has denied targeting civilians. Many European countries, such as Poland, Slovakia, and the International Criminal Court, are assisting Ukrainian investigators, while discussions are under way to establish a special tribunal like the one for the former Yugoslavia.
“I do not think there will be many benefits from the International Criminal Court. “I am very convinced that people will be held accountable because they were caught, arrested or indicted by Ukrainians,” said Emir Suljagic, director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center.
Mr Hodzic said the Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had fulfilled its mission in the sense that all indictments had achieved certain results and that all cases had been closed. However, he adds that a great opportunity has been missed.
“We had the chance to really face the facts, the facts proven in a forensic way, through the work of such an institution. The Syrians never had this chance, for example, nor will they probably have it because of various political circumstances. “The fact that we did not take this opportunity, that our political leaders turned to the policies of the 1990s, the policies of dehumanizing and inciting fear and trying to achieve the goals of the war in other ways, is not the responsibility of the Tribunal.”
“In the end, there will be, and we are already witnessing this, denial of any crime. “In Bosnia, individuals who support war criminals have gone a step further, and perhaps this awaits Ukraine, too. At some point, Russia will praise its criminals and the crimes they have committed.” Missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mr Hodzic said that in addition to prosecuting those responsible, the most important thing for the victims was to create a social context in which the truth about what happened was accepted.
“In societies where this is not the case, such as ours, or in situations where the perpetrators openly deny or celebrate crimes, as is now the case with Russia in Ukraine, it is difficult to expect victims to feel that justice has been done, regardless of the case. judicial ”.
VOA interviewees said the outcome of the war in Ukraine would greatly affect the ability to apprehend war crimes indictees, but also the search for missing persons.
“If Russia does not withdraw from the occupied territories, or if these will be led by groups that support Russian aggression, I fear that Ukraine could spend decades searching for the missing,” said Amor Masovic./VOA
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