The investigation is conducted under the banner of the International Criminal Court. The Dutch contingent again consists of military police detectives. They are supplemented by experts from other defense branches. The team's tasks are to conduct investigations and secure evidence. This takes place under the auspices of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Netherlands and the Czech Republic are jointly fulfilling this deployment. It is certainly not without risk. Intense fighting continues in Ukraine.
A year ago, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine established a joint investigation team (JIT) into serious international crimes committed in Ukraine. Subsequently, four more countries joined the team, and a special division was established at Eurojust in The Hague to collect, store, and analyze evidence.
This is the third time the Dutch Forensic Investigation Team has deployed to Ukraine. The first deployment was in May last year. The second took place at the end of last year. During those periods, evidence was secured and transferred to the ICC, where it is determined whether prosecution will proceed.
The war in Ukraine is the most documented armed conflict to date. One year after the outbreak of the war, investigations are ongoing in more than 20 countries, including 14 EU member states. With so many different stakeholders involved, it quickly became apparent that there was a need for a central, secure storage location for evidence. Consequently, EU institutions agreed to extend Eurojust's mandate.