The United States is launching a program to capture and analyze evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, as Washington wants Moscow to answer for its actions. This is reported by Reuters with reference to US Department of State.
The Conflict Observatory program will cover the documentation, verification and sharing of evidence from open sources that testify to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Reports and analyzes will be available on its official website.
The new program, which has already received $6 million in initial investment, will analyze and store information, including satellite imagery and social media information. Thus, the collected data can be used in current and future accountability mechanisms.
“This new Conflict Observatory program is part of a range of U.S. government efforts at both national and international levels designed to ensure future accountability for Russia’s horrific actions,” the State Department said in a statement.
The program is the result of a collaboration between Esri Geographic Information Systems, the Yale University Humanities Research Lab, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, and PlanetScape Ai.
The United States already has experience in collecting and documenting potential war crimes through a variety of mechanisms. However, the new program will share findings with the public and the authorities in relevant areas of jurisdiction, including Ukraine and the United States. Thus, prosecutors will potentially be able to build criminal cases on the basis of published material.
We remind that on Friday a Ukrainian court held its first hearing on a war crime. A case was considered when a Russian soldier (now a prisoner) killed a 62-year-old civilian in a village in the Sumy region.
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