US will help Ukraine to assist Ukraine War Crimes justice
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin met today in Washington to discuss efforts to hold accountable those accountable for the atrocities committed by war criminals and others that occurred in the aftermath of Russia’s provocative and unlawful invasion of Ukraine. The leaders laid out areas for collaboration that could be strengthened and signed a memorandum understanding (MOU) which will enable appropriate cooperation, coordination, and deconfliction between each country’s respective investigations and prosecutions.
“The United States stands by the people of Ukraine in their tireless pursuit to uphold the rule of law and seek justice for victims in the face of Russia’s continued aggression,” said U.S. Attorney General Garland. “Today the Department of Justice and the Prosecutor General’s Office announced our decision to work more closely together to identify and apprehend people who have been involved in war crimes and other atrocities committed in Ukraine. We will be relentless in our efforts to hold perpetrators accountable.”
“The MOU we signed today allows us to step up our common efforts in ensuring accountability for international crimes,” said Ukraine Prosecutor General Kostin. “Through establishing a formal framework of cooperation, we will strengthen effective investigation and prosecution of crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine and provide a measure of justice to victims.”
The U.S.-Ukraine MOU will promote efficiency in investigations and prosecutions by complying with national laws, removing obstacles to prompt and efficient exchange of evidence and information in investigations and prosecutions by the two countries, and increasing the ease with the speed at which technical cooperation can be facilitated.
The MOU builds on prior efforts by the department following the Attorney General’s trip to Ukraine on June 21, 2022. During the trip, Attorney General Garland announced the establishment of the War Crimes Accountability Team to centralize and strengthen the Justice Department’s ongoing effort to make accountable those who committed atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine following Russia’s unprovoked invasion. The team is comprised of the department’s top experts in investigations of human rights violations as well as war crimes and other atrocities. The team provides a broad range of technical assistance, including operational assistance and advice regarding criminal prosecutions, evidence collection and forensics, as well as legal analysis. A central component of the team’s mission is to further on-going investigations into possible war crimes for which the United States possesses jurisdiction, for example, the killing and wounding of U.S. journalists covering the unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine.
They also discussed the need for continued efforts to stop Russian illicit financial transactions and sanctions avoidance. In March Attorney General Garland announced the establishment of Task Force KleptoCapture (TFKC) to further leverage the department’s tools and authorities in order to deter attempts to evade or undermine the collective actions of the U.S. Government in response to Russian military aggression. TFKC, an interagency law enforcement taskforce based from the office of the Deputy Attorney General is devoted to enforcing the broad sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures the United States, along with its allies and partners abroad, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military occupation of Ukraine. Since its inception, the task force has assisted in the seizure and forfeiture of assets, including superyachts and aircrafts, of sanctioned persons who have close ties to the Russian regime; demolished Russian criminal networks and enforced sanctions violations, in addition to other actions.