The authors of this report were asked to scope and identify what impact the Ukrainian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) could have in the war crimes space, namely assistance for victims, advocacy and public outreach, and what if any guidance the international NGOs could provide. The vibrancy of the Ukrainian CSOs is highlighted in the fact that over one hundred CSOs signed the Civil Society Manifesto (Lugano Declaration) in June 2022 as part of an agreement on common principles and a framework for the future. Wherever possible, the work of CSOs should complement that of the state mechanisms, ensuring that all evidence collected under the auspices of war crimes is admissible and the investigation process is not jeopardised. The needs of war crime survivors need to be better understood within the criminal justice system and the diverse work of CSOs needs to be better understood and coordinated to ensure best practice is achieved and maintained, and coordination improved. The extent to which a stigma attached to CRSV victims by society exists needs to be understood and, if present reduced, and women’s rights groups must be strengthened along with awareness campaigns of health care, legal services and public outreach. Pertinent to this report is the fact that there are many different themes and focuses in war crimes, for example, documentation, investigation, legal, perpetrators of war crimes, support of victims of war crimes and CRSV, their families and survivors, and also different types of war crimes, e.g., CRSV, forced displacement of people and children, cultural heritage destruction, etc. In conducting this report, in such a short space of time efforts were made to widen the gamut beyond investigations solely with a view to providing a report that includes: 1. A situation report of the key CSO players and stakeholders currently engaged in War Crimes investigations through to trial process. 2. An overview of the impact of CRSV on victims and witnesses in Ukraine, a clear assessment of the needs of those impacted by CRSV, and whether those needs are being sufficiently met 3. Identification of the key gaps and requirements to support victims and witnesses of war crimes in Ukraine 4. A range of practical support and interventions that would add value to the combined efforts for HMG to consider. The Inception Phase included desk-based research and interviews with Ukrainian and international actors operating in the areas of victim support (rather than accountability and investigations) including, but not limited to: · Victim and Witness services · Non-Government Organisations · Civil Society Organisations · Defence Lawyers (who are representing victims and families) · Media outlets and sources · Police and War Crime Investigators (re victim and witness handling) · Office of the Prosecutor General (and Public Prosecutors) responsible for victim support · Judiciary (for oversight of witness interaction) National subject matter experts Vadym Chovgan and Eugene Krapyvin conducted real time, in-country engagement in conjunction with Optima’s Rule of Law expertise and experience to analyse the findings and identify practical interventions that provide both operational and diplomatic benefits. This was done through: 1. Stakeholder Analysis Produced through research and open-source intelligence, focused interviews, questionnaires, literature review and media search, the stakeholder analysis has identified a number of the key players and the headlines of who is doing what, where they are doing it, what the current scale of their activities, what is their plan for growth, what’s the demand and what’s stopping them from meeting that demand. 2. Best Practice Analysis The Best Practice Analysis has provided examples of Ukrainian and International best practice as well as highlighted the most significant challenges in Ukraine. International examples of best practice have been taken from a number of conflicts including Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Iraq. 3. Gap Analysis and recommendations The Gap Analysis has drawn together the information from the Stakeholder Analysis and the Best Practice Analysis to provide an overview of who’s doing what, where and where there are gaps.

Tells the story of "Chucky" Taylor, a young American who lost his soul in Liberia, the country where his African father was a ruthless warlord and dictator.

In international law victims' issues have gained more and more attention over the last decades. In particular in transitional justice processes the victim is being given high priority. It is to be seen in this context that the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court foresees a rather excessive victim participation concept in criminal prosecution. In this volume issue is taken at first with the definition of victims, and secondly with the role of the victim as a witness and as a participant. Several chapters address this matter with a view to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the Trial against Demjanjuk in Germany. In a third part the interests of the victims outside the criminal trial are being discussed. In the final part the role of civil society actors are being tackled. This volume thus gives an overview of the role of victims in transitional justice processes from an interdisciplinary angle, combining academic research and practical experience.

This book offers a multidisciplinary examination of the international crimes committed in the Russia-Ukraine War, and the challenges of their prosecution and documentation. As the largest international armed conflict in Europe since World War II, Russia’s war against Ukraine has provoked strong reactions and questions about the post-1945 world order, the utility of the war, and the effectiveness of international criminal justice. Throughout the chapters in this volume, scholars and legal practitioners from Canada, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, the UK, and the United States present the results of interdisciplinary research, insights from the perspective of other post-communist states, and first-hand expertise from directly working on the documentation and prosecution of these crimes. This offers a broader picture of post-Cold War relations and sheds light on the roots and nature of the war and the importance of regional approaches. The chapters also present some possible responses to the crimes committed in the conflict, with a focus on a victims-centered approach to transitional justice. This volume will be of interest to scholars and students of international criminal and humanitarian law, security studies, peace and conflict studies, and Eastern European history.

"Pursuing Justice for Mass Atrocities: A Handbook for Victim Groups" is an educational resource for victim groups that want to influence or participate in the justice process for mass atrocities. It presents a range of tools that victim groups can use, from building a victim-centered coalition and developing a strategic communications plan to engaging with policy makers and decision makers and using the law to obtain justice.

This book is concerned with the commercial exploitation of armed conflict; it is about money, war, atrocities and economic actors, about the connections between them, and about responsibility. It aims to clarify the legal framework that defines these connections and gives rise to criminal or, in some instances, civil responsibility, referring both to mechanisms for international criminal justice, such as the International Criminal Court, and domestic systems. It considers which economic actors among individuals, businesses, governments and States should be held accountable and before which forum. Additionally, it addresses the question of how to recover illegally acquired profits and redirect them to benefit the victims of war. The chapters shine a critical light on the options provided by a network of laws to ensure that the 'great industrialists' of our time, who find economic opportunities in the war-ravaged lives of others, are unable to pursue those opportunities with impunity.

This book provides detailed analyses of systems that have been established to provide reparations to victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and the way in which these systems have worked and are working in practice. Many of these systems are described and assessed for the first time in an academic publication. The publication draws upon a groundbreaking Conference organised by the Clemens Nathan Research Centre (CNRC) and REDRESS at the Peace Palace in The Hague, with the support of the Dutch Carnegie Foundation. Both CNRC and REDRESS had become very concerned about the extreme difficulty encountered by most victims of serious international crimes in attempting to access effective and enforceable remedies and reparation for harm suffered. In discussions between the Conference organisers and Judges and officials of the International Criminal Court, it became ever more apparent that there was a great need for frank and open exchanges on the question of effective reparation, between the representatives of victims, of NGOs and IGOs, and other experts. It was clear to all that the many current initiatives of governments and regional and international institutions to afford reparations to victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes could benefit greatly by taking into full account the wide and varied practice that had been built up over several decades. In particular, the Hague Conference sought to consider in detail the long experience of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (the Claims Conference) in respect of Holocaust restitution programmes, as well as the practice of truth commissions, arbitral proceedings and a variety of national processes to identify common trends, best practices and lessons. This book thus explores the actions of governments, as well as of national and international courts and commissions in applying, processing, implementing and enforcing a variety of reparations schemes and awards. Crucially, it considers the entire complex of issues from the perspective of the beneficiaries - survivors and their communities - and from the perspective of the policy-makers and implementers tasked with resolving technical and procedural challenges in bringing to fruition adequate, effective and meaningful reparations in the context of mass victimisation.