The Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office is introducing new practices for supporting victims and witnesses
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The Prosecutor General’s Office updates work standards. Currently, a new unit has been created – the Coordinating Center for the Support of Victims and Witnesses, which will provide assistance to participants in the criminal process. At the first stage, the Center will work with witnesses and victims of war crimes, later the circle of support will be extended to all victims of violent crimes. The practice of creating appropriate centers began to take shape in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to address issues of post-war support for victims and witnesses of war crimes. Thousands of Ukrainians need the support of the Coordination Center Currently, more than 112,000 crimes related to Russian aggression have been recorded in Ukraine, including more than 93,000 war crimes. In order to accumulate information about war crimes, a single resource warcrimes.gov.ua was created, with the help of which witnesses and victims send information about the events they witnessed, while it is possible to indicate the date and place of the event, if available, adding photos and video materials . So far, the portal has received more than 20,000 messages. Therefore, 20 thousand times people found the courage to talk about the horrors they had to experience and to testify before the public and the state about the war crimes committed by the occupiers. It is necessary to understand that behind each of these figures is a mutilated human destiny, a traumatized physical body, a damaged psyche. Sometimes it is not the case when a person is able to dispassionately participate in the investigative or procedural actions that accompany the respective implementations. Such people need a guide, so that they can go to their own hell again and again and return from there without being burned. This is the level of support that the newly created Support Coordination Center is designed for. Read also: Families of military and civilian prisoners can receive psychological, legal and financial assistance: how to do it Changes in approaches to the investigation of criminal proceedings in Ukraine The primary task of criminal proceedings is not only to bring the guilty to justice and protect a person from criminal offenses, and definitely not work for the report. All players in the field of criminal justice must protect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of its participants, including victims and witnesses. During the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the prosecutor’s office encountered an unprecedented number of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, etc. Such challenges required changes in approaches to the investigation of criminal proceedings, there was an understanding of the areas in which we need to modernize and reformat the work of the prosecutor’s office so that victims and witnesses receive the appropriate level of assistance. Who are coordinators and how can they help Coordinators of our Coordination Center will be the link between victims, witnesses and the state in its criminal legal avatars. The Center’s employees will closely cooperate with investigators, prosecutors and the court. What can you expect from a coordinator? For example, coordinators should provide their wards with timely and accurate information about their rights in criminal proceedings – not in the context of the already familiar reminder about rights and obligations, which is necessary in the proceedings materials, but in the context of explanations in the language familiar to them about “What, Where, When” will happen to people in each of the situations, and providing information about the state of the pre-trial investigation and trial to the extent determined by criminal procedural legislation. In addition, the goal is to help victims and witnesses in obtaining legal advice and representation, including referral to centers for the provision of free legal aid, their referral to relevant services for the provision of psychological, medical and social assistance, assistance in filing applications for receiving payments to victims and witnesses , who need urgent financial assistance. In the context of the individual assessment, special attention will be given to older persons and persons with special needs, victims and witnesses of conflict-related sexual violence, victims and witnesses of torture, victims who have suffered serious bodily injuries, family members of persons whose death was directly caused by a crime. Children who are victims and witnesses of war crimes are always considered vulnerable. The center will accompany the victims and witnesses on the long journey to the international court over the Russian Federation. In general, the question should arise – shouldn’t all questions be closed primarily by the prosecutor or the investigator, or in the end, by other state agencies or non-governmental organizations? We must be aware that the legal and actual distance in our war is not a sprint, but a marathon, the finish line of which is visible close to the international courts. When the case is sent to the national court, it ceases to be a priority for the investigator, when the sentence becomes legally binding – for the prosecutor, and the person remains in the future with all the pain that was inflicted by the enemy and repeated again and again during the investigation and trial. It should be the responsibility of the state to not leave a person on his own at any of the stages, but to “pass it along the route” and understand who and in what way will help in the future. The task of the Coordination Center is not only about personal support, but also about coordinating the efforts of all capable and interested subjects, therefore the story of the creation of an interdepartmental, including referral, support mechanism is a great challenge for everyone. Read also: Free psychological courses are launched for people affected by the war. Join the Center’s team! I want to emphasize that we are currently at the very beginning of the long road to building institutionally capable support for witnesses and victims, the team of the Coordination Center is only being formed. We have announced recruitment for 34 positions, including coordinators, analysts, managers, specialists in standardization and interaction with state bodies and public organizations. We invite all those willing to join our Center to support the victims and witnesses of war crimes and help them to live on, and the state to achieve the punishment of the guilty. It is difficult to promise victims something that you cannot do in full, and it is dangerous to continue to perceive a person exclusively as a procedural status. Veronika Plotnikova, head of the Coordinating Center for the Support of Victims and Witnesses, especially the UP. Life Publications in the “View” section are not editorial articles and reflect exclusively the author’s point of view.
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