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The European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom establish the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) for Ukraine
https://ua.usembassy.gov ^ | May 25, 2022 | U.S. Department of State

Posted on 05/31/2022 8:25:20 PM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com

Today, the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom announced the creation of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), a mechanism aimed at ensuring efficient coordination of their respective support to accountability efforts on the ground. The ACA will reinforce current EU, U.S. and UK efforts to further accountability for atrocity crimes in the context of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. It advances commitments made by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom to demonstrate international support and solidarity at this crucial historical moment for Ukraine.

The overarching mission of the ACA is to support the War Crimes Units of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OPG) in its investigation and prosecution of conflict-related crimes. The ACA seeks to streamline coordination and communication efforts to ensure best practices, avoid duplication of efforts, and encourage the expeditious deployment of financial resources and skilled personnel to respond to the needs of the OPG as the legally constituted authority in Ukraine responsible for dealing with the prosecution of war crimes on its own territory.

EU High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell said: “It is critical to ensure that all those responsible for the terrible atrocities committed during the unprovoked Russian military aggression in Ukraine are brought to justice. There can be no impunity for war crimes. The Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group will be providing advice and supporting the ongoing efforts of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s War Crimes Units to collect, preserve, and analyze evidence of atrocities to help the investigations and ensure justice takes its course.”

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said: “This initiative will directly support efforts by the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor General to document, preserve, and analyze evidence of war crimes and other atrocities committed by members of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, with a view toward criminal prosecutions. The ACA is an essential element of the United States’ commitment that those responsible for such crimes will be held to account.”

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “We are determined to ensure those responsible for the vile atrocities committed in Ukraine are held to account. The UK has already made a clear commitment to supporting Ukraine in its investigations, including through deploying war crimes experts to the region and releasing additional funding to aid the ICC

in their investigations. We are now stepping up our efforts through this landmark initiative with our partners in the US and EU. Justice will be done.”

General Prosecutor of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova said: “There is ample evidence of the atrocities committed by Russia’s forces on the territory of Ukraine against civilians, including children. The creation of this support group and the advice of international experts with experience in other international criminal tribunals and national criminal law practice will help the ongoing work of our teams in investigating and prosecuting these crimes.”

Operational support

The ACA will bring together multinational experts to provide strategic advice and operational assistance to OPG specialists and other stakeholders in areas such as collection and preservation of evidence, operational analysis, investigation of conflict-related sexual violence, crime scene and forensic investigations, drafting of indictments, and co-operation with international and national accountability mechanisms. This engagement with the OPG and other justice, law enforcement and security agencies of Ukraine has been and will continue to be driven by the needs of the Ukrainian government and the parameters of its support will be developed in close consultation with the OPG. To this end, it will closely associate its activities with the ongoing operational work taking place in cooperation with EU Member States, partner third countries and the International Criminal Court, including the Joint Investigation Team coordinated by Eurojust.

The ACA brings together a multi-national group of war crimes experts from European Union countries, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries. Due to the current security situation in Ukraine, the experts are primarily based in south-eastern Poland but are operationally engaged in Ukraine, including by means of short-term missions and on-site interaction with the OPG staff and other international partners engaged. As the security situation permits, it is anticipated that experts and support staff will relocate entirely to Ukraine.

The ACA activity will cover coordination of two key elements: 

Advisory Group to the OPG: Experienced senior war crimes prosecutors, investigators, military analysts, forensic specialists, and other experts based in the region on an ongoing basis provide expertise, mentoring, advice and operational support to the OPG and to the field-level Mobile Justice Teams, as well as a wider range of state and non-state actors. Mobile Justice Teams: Several Mobile Justice Teams (MJTs) are being created and deployed to increase the capacity of the OPG War Crimes Unit and regional prosecutors to conduct field investigations. The MJTs will be composed of both international and Ukrainian experts and will be deployed at the request of the OPG to assist Ukraine’s investigators on the ground. They will be part of the holisticchain for documentation, investigation and prosecution of grave international crimes that is led by the OPG.

The ACA is supported by the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) and Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). ACA partners include the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Global Rights Compliance, and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO). On the EU side, coordination will be ensured by the European External Action Service (EEAS), through the EU Delegation to Ukraine, in coordination with the European Commission, the EU Project Pravo-Justice II and the EU Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM). The UK contribution will be coordinated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and other relevant UK Government Departments.

Background

The ACA is an operational hub that coordinates assistance in response to the technical and legal needs of the Government of Ukraine to hold perpetrators of international crimes to account. It constitutes one essential component of a broader multilateral effort to support Ukraine.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
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ATROCITY CRIMES ADVISORY GROUP (ACA) FOR UKRAINE  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

Why was the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) set up?

The European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom fully support Ukraine in making sure that those responsible for the terrible atrocities committed since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022 are brought to justice.

As the legally constituted authority responsible for dealing with investigations of war crimes in Ukrainian territory, the Office of the Prosecutor of Ukraine (OPG) will play a crucial role in ensuring that those responsible for war crimes and other atrocities are held accountable. The Office of the Prosecutor General will likely bear the greatest burden of cases.

Ukrainian prosecutors and investigators are very capable and have been doing outstanding work. Nevertheless, the scale of what is happening now is unprecedented and is placing huge demands on the Office of the Prosecutor General. Such demands would prove challenging for any law enforcement authorities in any country.

The ACA support to the OPG seeks to streamline coordination and communication efforts to ensure best practice, avoid duplication of efforts and encourage the expedient deployment of financial resources and skilled personnel to respond to the needs of the OPG. In doing so, we are supporting the OPG in this moment of unprecedented challenges.

How does this initiative fit with other international efforts to support the investigation and prosecution of atrocities in Ukraine?

The EU, the United States and the UK are supporting a range of accountability mechanisms, including investigations by Ukraine’s national authorities, and international investigations, including the ICC, as well as investigations by third countries that can establish jurisdiction. We support the important work of human rights documenters on the ground in Ukraine and other accountability-related efforts – including the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry and the OSCE Moscow Mechanism Expert Mission. But Ukraine’s national authorities will likely bear the greatest burden of cases and that is why we are so committed to supporting the OPG.

This is part of a broad commitment by the United States, EU, the UK, and other partners to demonstrate international support and solidarity at this crucial historical moment for Ukraine.

What is the role of Ukrainian authorities in investigating war crimes committed on Ukrainian territory?

The ACA’s engagement with the OPG and other justice, law enforcement and security agencies has been and will continue to be driven by the needs of the Ukrainian government and the parameters of its support will be developed in close consultation with the OPG, which is the legally constituted authority responsible for dealing with the prosecution of war crimes in Ukraine. Our goal is to make sure the OPG and other government entities of Ukraine have the appropriate support and war crimes expertise to continue doing their work and respond as best as possible to the unprecedented challenges of the current situation.

What operational activities are ACA’s experts engaged in?

ACA will bring together multinational experts to provide strategic advice, operational assistance and training as needed in areas such as crime scene and forensic investigations, drafting of indictments, collection and preservation of evidence, operational analysis, investigation of conflict-related sexual violence, and co-operation with international and national accountability mechanisms, and other areas of specialization.

In practice, the ACA’s support is composed of two key elements:  

An Advisory Group to the OPG, made up of experienced senior war crimes prosecutors, investigators and other specialists based in the region, provides expertise, mentoring, advice and operational support to the OPG. Mobile Justice Team (MJTs), composed of both international and Ukrainian experts, are created and deployed at the request of the OPG to increase the capacity of the War Crimes Unit and regional prosecutors to conduct field investigations and assist Ukrainian investigators on the ground.

Why don’t you share operational details of ACA’s support, expert locations, and others?

The exact location of the experts or other operational details cannot be disclosed as that might compromise the integrity of investigative efforts, the collection of evidence and the safety of potential witnesses as well as experts of the ACA, the OPG or other partners involved. This is in line with best practices in investigative efforts of this nature.

Do you foresee a special tribunal being set up to investigate and prosecute these crimes?

There are already many ongoing national and international accountability efforts – including the ICC’s investigation, and investigations by third countries that have jurisdiction over crimes committed in Ukraine, including participants in the relevant Joint Investigative Teams.

The main goal of this effort is to ensure that the OPG as the legally constituted authority responsible for dealing with the prosecution of war crimes in Ukraine receives the support, advice and resources it needs to prosecute perpetrators of atrocity crimes committed on Ukrainian territory if, and when, that time comes.

How many experts make up the ACA, where are they located, and what are their nationalities?

The ACA brings together a multi-national group of experts from European Union countries, the United States, the United Kingdom and other nations.

Due to the current security situation in Ukraine, the experts are primarily based in south-eastern Poland but are operationally engaged in Ukraine, including by means of short-term missions and on-site interaction with the OPG staff and other international partners engaged. As the security situation permits, it is anticipated that the ACA’s experts and support staff will relocate entirely to Ukraine.

Who is implementing this joint US-EU-UK-initiative?

The ACA is supported by the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). ACA partners include the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Global Rights Compliance, and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO). On the EU side, coordination will be ensured by the European External Action Service (EEAS), through the EU Delegation to Ukraine, the EU Project Pravo-Justice II and the EU Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM). The UK contribution will be coordinated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and other relevant UK Government Departments.

By U.S. Embassy Kyiv | 26 May, 2022

1 posted on 05/31/2022 8:25:20 PM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

Why do I think the EU will hang up the phone when Russia tries to call in a complaint - just as they did with Serbia after NATO bombed the hell out of them.


2 posted on 05/31/2022 8:27:14 PM PDT by BobL (My hatred of Necons/Globalists exceeds my love of Ukraine or any other country, other than the US)
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

Any prosecution of neo Nazis?
No?


3 posted on 05/31/2022 8:29:05 PM PDT by struggle
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To: struggle

NO WONDER! Putin signed a ban on comparisons between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany last July.

That means someone could be jailed for mentioning the collaboration between Hitler and Josef Stalin. “Stalin perpetrated a man-made famine that can be called a genocide in Ukraine 90 years ago, the ‘Holodomor’ which claimed some 3 million Ukrainian lives.

https://www.jpost.com/international/comparing-soviet-union-to-nazi-germany-now-illegal-in-russia-672821


4 posted on 05/31/2022 8:38:59 PM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com (et, so p)
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

Trash from the three most crooked entities on earth. They gonna go after those Uke death squads? Those Ukes shooting prisoners in the legs? Nazi militias shooting artillery into the Donbass for 8 years? Also funny how they never found the time to go after ISIS criminals either. There is no global effort to go after them. They even came home with pensions in some cases.


5 posted on 05/31/2022 8:42:33 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: DesertRhino

“...Nazi militias shooting artillery into the Donbass for 8 years?...”

Don’t you ever get tired of posting the same ridiculous comments. For eight years there were lots of back and forth shooting it was not just one way. And the fake “separatists” did exactly as you accuse the Azov BN of doing which is setting up positions in civilian buildings.

What is your motive for loving Moscow’s position on absolutely everything? Is there any point of disagreement between you and the invaders?


6 posted on 05/31/2022 8:51:07 PM PDT by Monterrosa-24 (To the barricades !!!)
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To: DesertRhino

You call the United states of America as one of the most crooked entities on earth?!?

Are you an America hater?


7 posted on 05/31/2022 8:53:24 PM PDT by Cronos
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

Yeah, the Russians are only pissed at the Neo-nazis because of the memory of Barbarossa after the Molotov-Rippentrop pact was signed. Rippentrop was the first to hang at Nuremburg because of it.

I don’t care what side wins, the war needs to end now. They always explode into something huge, and frankly Ukraine’s a weak country that’s going to be pulled apart anyway.


8 posted on 05/31/2022 9:01:50 PM PDT by struggle
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To: struggle

INFO:
Members of the Russian National Unity (RNU), one of the largest official neo-Nazi groups in the Russian Federation, in the public announcement of their entry into the Ukrainian conflict in support of the invading forces. Ukraine War, 2022.

https://preview.redd.it/z1km4xziafl81.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=dc0e1abc1fff41379eab1aefd962d95c119ac847


9 posted on 05/31/2022 9:05:34 PM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com (et, so p)
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

Yeah, my point is, I’m not on either side. I’m just hoping it ends quickly without the government spending more money.


10 posted on 05/31/2022 9:21:06 PM PDT by struggle
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com
Ukraine reports 15,000 suspected war crimes
Around 15,000 suspected war crimes have been reported in Ukraine since the war began, with 200 to 300 more reported daily, its chief prosecutor said.

Some 600 suspects have been identified and 80 prosecutions have begun, Iryna Venediktova told reporters in The Hague.

The list of suspects includes "top military, politicians and propaganda agents of Russia", she added.


11 posted on 05/31/2022 9:31:37 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com; struggle
Members of the Russian National Unity (RNU), one of the largest official neo-Nazi groups in the Russian Federation, in the public announcement of their entry into the Ukrainian conflict in support of the invading forces. Ukraine War, 2022.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_National_Unity

Russian National Unity

Founded 1990
Dissolved 2000

Russian National Unity (RNU; transcribed Russkoe natsionalnoe edinstvo RNE) or All-Russian civic patriotic movement "Russian National Unity" was an unregistered neo-Nazi, irredentist group based in Russia and formerly operating in states with Russian-speaking populations. It was founded by the ultra-nationalist Alexander Barkashov. The movement advocated the expulsion of non-Russians and an increased role for traditional Russian institutions such as the Russian Orthodox Church. The organization was unregistered federally in Russia, but nonetheless collaborated on a limited basis with the Federal Security Service. The group was banned in Moscow in 1999 after which the group gradually split up in smaller groups and their webpage became defunct in 2006.


12 posted on 05/31/2022 9:35:17 PM PDT by woodpusher
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com
Today, the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom announced the creation of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), a mechanism aimed at ensuring efficient coordination of their respective support to accountability efforts on the ground. The ACA will reinforce current EU, U.S. and UK efforts to further accountability for atrocity crimes in the context of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.

I can't wait to see this pile of hot air describe its enforcement mechanism. It can't even get an approval through the UN Security Council.

13 posted on 05/31/2022 9:36:37 PM PDT by woodpusher
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com
A Ukrainian refugee in the UK says she recognises items apparently looted from her house sitting on top of a Russian tank in a recent photo.


14 posted on 05/31/2022 9:51:41 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: woodpusher
This photo may help showing some members of the Russian National Unity (RNU) made their public announcement of their entry into the Ukrainian conflict in support of the invading forces. Ukraine War, 2022.
15 posted on 05/31/2022 9:52:30 PM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com (et, so p)
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To: woodpusher

UN suspends Russia from Human Rights Council

“Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that Russia’s suspension sends “a crystal-clear message” that they have “no business” on the council.

“The General Assembly has sent a crystal-clear message to Russia’s leadership that a government whose military is routinely committing horrific rights violations has no business on the UN Human Rights Council,” Charbonneau said.

“Gruesome images from Bucha have shocked people around the world. Victims and their families deserve to see those responsible held to account. Investigators from the UN and International Criminal Court should set the wheels of justice in motion by moving swiftly to gather and preserve evidence of war crimes.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/07/politics/un-russia-human-rights/index.html


16 posted on 05/31/2022 10:08:50 PM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com (et, so p)
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

This is our state departments war at this point being managed by them thru globalism inc

Serbia rinse repeat

Fcuk them


17 posted on 05/31/2022 10:24:56 PM PDT by wardaddy (Where did all the same posters go......they cannot have all died ....could they ?)
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To: BobL

Exactly

Don’t forget Syrian chem weapons use later found bulshite

It never ends with these charlatans


18 posted on 05/31/2022 10:25:54 PM PDT by wardaddy (Where did all the same posters go......they cannot have all died ....could they ?)
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To: struggle

Reasonable

What are you?

Putin’s stable boy ?

/s


19 posted on 05/31/2022 10:26:44 PM PDT by wardaddy (Where did all the same posters go......they cannot have all died ....could they ?)
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To: UMCRevMom@aol.com

Then Russia sets up one for crimes in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.


20 posted on 05/31/2022 10:29:18 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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