how to establish proof of a war crime?

After the departure of the Russian troops, dozens of corpses of civilians were discovered in Boutcha (Ukraine), abandoned in the middle of the street. “These are war crimes, they will be recognized by the world as genocide”, announced on Monday, April 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. For their part, the Russians denounce a staging.

In order to identify those responsible, the name of each victim must be found. “It will be extremely meticulous work. We will have to develop forensic investigations, autopsies on the bodies of the victims”says Philippe Dam, coordinator in Europe from Human Rights Watch (HRW). To constitute proof of a war crime, different sources exist. “It could be eavesdropping (…) information from satellite monitoring”explains Clémence Bectarte, lawyer for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).