Dutch forensic team Ukraine-bound to help investigate war crimes

A Dutch forensic team is heading to Ukraine for the second time to help investigate war crimes committed there on behalf of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. This second visit follows a call from the Ukrainian government for other countries to help investigate the atrocities committed by Russians invading the country, NOS reports.

The forensic specialists will investigate specific sites, including mass graves. They’ll conduct DNA research and look at digital traffic, like photos and messages that could indicate war crimes.

This is an independent investigation, team leader Angelo Wouters of the Koninklijke Marechaussee said to NOS. Entering a war zone always entails risks, he said. “It is challenging and unpredictable. Fortunately, we have experts in the field of safety, among others, who can advise on the do’s and don’ts in these kinds of circumstances.”

The team’s findings will go to the ICC for evidence in future criminal trials. Russia doesn’t recognize the ICC, which complicates prosecuting Russians for crimes in Ukraine. But Wouters is hopeful that perpetrators will face justice. Establishing the crimes can also offer victims’ families closure, he added.

Last week, Dutch parliamentarians called on Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs to start working on a special tribunal to eventually try Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cronies for the war in Ukraine. “It is essential that Putin, the one who is behind the terrible war in Ukraine, does not get away with it with impunity when this war is over,” initiator Sjoerd Sjoerdsma (D66) said.