Ukraine War Crimes Forensics USAGM
Metadata
- Ukraine War Crimes Forensics USAGM
- May 4, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Ukraine War Crimes Forensics TV)) HEADLINE: A Trove of Digital Evidence Documents War Crimes in Ukraine TEASER: Prosecutors benefit from smartphones, social media, crowdsourcing to verify accounts and bring perpetrators to justice. PUBLISHED AT: Thursday, 05/04/2022 BYLINE: Veronica Balderas Iglesias CONTRIBUTOR: Margaret Besheer DATELINE: Washington VIDEOGRAPHER/VIDEO EDITOR: Veronica Balderas Iglesias SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, Tom Detzel VIDEO SOURCE (S): Reuters, AFP, Other (see courtesies in script) PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __ TRT: 3:48 VID APPROVED BY: TD, BR TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: UPDATE: Radio Tracks for Reversioning Included ((TV INTRO)) [[With the help of international experts, Ukraine is rushing to collect evidence of widespread war crimes, using 21st century technology to bring the perpetrators to justice. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. A warning to our viewers: this story contains graphic images.]] ((WEB LEAD)) [[With the help of international experts, Ukraine is rushing to collect evidence of widespread war crimes, using 21st century technology to bring the perpetrators to justice. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. A warning to our viewers: this story contains graphic images.]] ((Mandatory cg: Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior)) ((NARRATOR)) More than 50,000 police officers have been deployed to the combat areas of Ukraine. They’re not just working to repel Russia’s invasion. They’re also investigating crimes – war crimes. [[RADIO INTRO:, says Yevhen Yenin, Ukraine’s First Deputy Interior Minister]] ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) ((Yevhen Yenin, Ukraine’s First Deputy Interior Minister)) “Almost 21,000 criminal proceedings have been filed for crimes committed under martial law. Among them, ((Mandatory cg: Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior)) almost 9,000 criminal proceedings on the facts of crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine by servicemen of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and their accomplices.” ((Mandatory cg: Reuters)) ((NARRATOR)) A mission of experts tasked by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ((Mandatory cg: Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior)) found what they call “clear patterns of international humanitarian law violations.” [[RADIO INTRO: Professor Wolfgang Benedek chaired the mission]] ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) ((Wolfgang Benedek, OSCE Experts Mission Chairman)) “There have been cases of killings, there have been cases of torture, there have been cases of rapes.” ((Mandatory cg: Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior)) Dangerous conditions prevented them from working on site, but they didn’t need to: There’s a vast digital record. ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) ((Wolfgang Benedek, OSCE Experts Mission Chairman)) “There’s practically everything visible on the internet in the form of videos, in the form of pictures and also testimonies of victims.” ((Mandatory cg: Reuters)) ((NARRATOR)) 21st century forensics are helping Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Iryna Venediktova, too. ((Mandatory cg: warcrimes.gov.ua)) She has gathered thousands of photos and videos by crowdsourcing through an official website. ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) ((Iryna Venediktova/Ukraine’s Prosecutor General)) “Social media is very important, too, because we can use these open resources and we have the team of nearly 100 prosecutors who work with open resources and for us is very useful to analyze this information.” ((Mandatory cg: eyeWitness to Atrocities/YOUTUBE LOGO)) ((NARRATOR)) But making these images admissible in a trial is the goal of the British charity behind the “eyeWitness to Atrocities app.” The app collects the time, location and other verification data that prosecutors can take to court. [[RADIO INTRO: Wendy Betts, is the charity’s Director]] ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) ((Wendy Betts, eyeWitness to Atrocities Director)) “First is where and when the footage was taken making sure that we know that information./Making sure the footage hasn’t been edited so its integrity is intact and making sure we can trace the lifespan of that footage to know that nobody had any access to make any changes.” ((VIDEO: Screenshot Gov partner website)) ((Mandatory cg: @KyivDigital/Facebook)) ((NARRATOR)) It’s a tsunami of information that the Ukrainian authorities need to comb through. The United States is helping protect this motherlode (eds: treasure) from hackers. [[RADIO INTRO: says Clint Williamson former U.S. Ambassador- at-large for war crimes issues]] ((VIA: TEAMS)) ((Clint Williamson, Former U.S. Ambassador- at-large for War Crimes Issues)) “The war that is being fought in the information sphere is just as active as what’s going on on the ground./We are trying to provide a wide range of support to the Ukrainian authorities to help them deal with all the contingencies that they are going to confront as they look into these crimes.” ((Mandatory cg: UNTV)) ((NARRATOR)) At the United Nations, prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court told VOA that tech isn’t a substitute for older forensic tools, but it extends the power of human recollection. ((Karim Khan, International Criminal Court Prosecutor)) “You can imagine a witness very often traumatized with the passage of time. Their memories naturally will, may change, may falter.// ((Mandatory cg: eyeWitness to Atrocities/YOUTUBE LOGO)) If forensic evidence is collected properly/it’s more capable, you know, to be viewed as reliable once it’s been tested and it’s been looked into.” ((Mandatory cg: Reuters)) ((NARRATOR)) It may take years before the evidence reaches the Criminal Court. ((Mandatory cg: Reuters) ((NARRATOR)) Russian authorities, who deny war crimes, didn’t respond to numerous interview requests. ((Mandatory cg: Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior)) There are allegations of war crimes by Ukrainian nationals, though far fewer. ((Mandatory: Reuters)) The Ukrainian prosecutor general, Venediktova told VOA she will investigate ((Mandatory cg: Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior)) and cooperate with the International Criminal Court. ((Veronica Balderas Iglesias, for VOA News, Washington))
- NewsML Media Topics Conflict, War and Peace
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date May 4, 2022 18:35 EDT
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English