Investigating crimes against children is always a test of professionalism and humanity. There are no secondary details here, and the price of a mistake is too high. That is why the participants of the «Operational» research group of the Department of Operational Investigation and Information Security at the DonSUIA joined the online seminar-discussion «Documenting and chains of custody of electronic evidence while investigating war crimes of the russian federation against Ukrainian children».
The webinar was moderated by representatives of the public organizations «Center for Democracy Development»: Doctor of Law, trainer of the National Bar Association of Ukraine, lecturer and developer of training programs of the National School of Judges and the Training Center for Prosecutors of Ukraine Iryna Yakovets, as well as psychologist, lawyer, lecturer of the Kyiv Metropolitan University named after B. Hrinchenko, member of the National Psychological Association of Ukraine Hanna Sytnyk.
A key aspect of the participants’ training was working with electronic evidence and adhering to the «chain of custody» principle.
Research group members examined in detail international standards for recording crimes, where every step – from a file discovery to its submission to court – must be legally impeccable. Special emphasis was placed on how to communicate with children affected by war in order to avoid re-traumatizing them during investigative actions.
The event was held within the framework of the project «Justice for Ukrainian Youth: Investigating and Prosecuting War Crimes of the Russian Federation against Ukrainian Children», which is implemented with the support of the Law Enforcement Affairs Section (INL) of the US Embassy in Ukraine. The project is administered by an American non-governmental organization PH International (Project Harmony, Inc.) with the participation of its partners: the Kirovohrad Regional Center for Children and Youth Creativity, the «Koma» Youth Center, the public organization «Youth Public Association «Center» and the All-Ukrainian public organization «Center for the Development of Democracy».
