Teenage face. Silhouette huddled behind the windows of his cubicle. The image went around the world. Vadim Chichimarine, 21, is the first Russian soldier convicted of one of the 13,000 alleged war crimes which Ukrainian justice has officially taken up.
Judicial truths or political verdicts?
Mariupol, Irpin, Kramatorsk or Mothyzyn, so many names of towns or villages that have become synonymous with drama and desolation. But as the war continues to rage and both sides accuse each other of abuses, even manipulation, how can investigations into such atrocities be conducted independently? And for what results? Judicial truths or highly political verdicts?
In the areas occupied for weeks by Vladimir Putin’s troops, the “Complementary Investigation” teams collected dozens of testimonies from survivors or relatives of victims. With the help of specialists in the analysis of images published on social networks, our team was able to put a face, and sometimes a name, on the pseudonyms of several Russian soldiers wanted for war crimes… and contact some of them. them.
The largest evidence-gathering operation launched by the ICC
In the suburbs of kyiv, the cameras of “Complementary investigation” filmed the trying work of the experts of the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN). Identification of the bodies, ballistic expertise, DNA analysis, France dispatched them to the scene to help Ukrainian justice.
In The Hague, the judges of the International Criminal Court sent 42 investigators to Ukraine, the largest evidence-gathering operation ever launched by the ICC. Generals, ministers or heads of state, to what level of responsibility can international justice go back? Do such procedures have a chance of succeeding one day?
An investigation by Louis Milano-Dupont, Julien Cholin, Guillaume Couderc and Olivier Broutin.
The editorial staff of “Complément d’Enquête” invites you to comment on the program on Facebook Or on Twitter with the hashtag #ComplementDenquete.
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– The ICC December 2020 report (in English) at the end of the preliminary examinations (situation in Ukraine examined from p. 69).
– The OHCHR report on civilian casualties, updated very regularly (in English).
– The OSCE report on human rights violations in Ukraine (as of April 13, 2022) where it is in particular a question of the bombardment of the maternity hospital of Mariupol (in English).
– The site of the WHO’s Surveillance system for attacks on healthcare (SSA), which lists attacks against medical personnel and establishments (in English).
– The site of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (in English or Russian).
– The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense intelligence service website (in English).
– The Human Rights Watch report on the Chernihiv bombings.
– The CIR interactive map (Centre for Information Resilience). CIR works with Bellingcat, GeoConfirmed, Conflict Intelligence Team, Advance Democracy and the open source community to map, document, archive and investigate what is happening in Ukraine.
– FranceInfo article “True or Fake: Were Russian Prisoners Tortured by the Ukrainian Army?”
Non-exhaustive list.
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