ZMINA signed a memorandum with the Office of the Prosecutor General

The Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) held a meeting of coordinators and participants of the International Council of Experts on Investigating Crimes Committed in the Armed Conflict. During the meeting, Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin concluded Memorandums of Cooperation with public organizations, including ZMINA.

This memorandum formalizes the principles of cooperation between public organizations and the Office of the Prosecutor General, as well as implements the standards of interaction between the Prosecutor’s Office and civil society organizations in the field of criminal prosecution of those guilty of war crimes. On behalf of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, the document was signed by the Head of the Board Tetiana Pechonchyk.

The International Council of Experts on Investigating Crimes Committed in Conditions of Armed Conflict is a platform created to maintain constant communication with non-governmental, scientific and international organizations and experts on improving the effectiveness of investigations of crimes committed in conditions of armed conflict, current issues related to with this activity, and the ways of solving them, as well as the protection of victims of war crimes under Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Prosecutor’s Office”.

Tetiana Pechonchyk signs the memorandum

This mechanism of interaction between the OPG and NGOs includes 14 working groups, including the “Protection of Journalists and Activists” group, whose co-coordinators are Liudmyla Yankina, Head of Civil Society Protection at the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, and Oksana Romaniuk, Executive Director of the Institute of Mass Information.

“We started with six working groups. Now there are already 14 of them in various areas of cooperation and not only in the field of investigation of war crimes, but also in the areas of protection of the rights of servicemen, combating crimes against the environment, protection of victims and witnesses, as well as the rights of public activists, volunteers, journalists and others. This year, a new area of ​​cultural heritage protection was launched, which requires further attention and development,” said Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin during a meeting with experts.

Andrii Kostin

As Liudmyla Yankina reported, ZMINA provides comprehensive support to journalists, activists, volunteers, human rights defenders and public figures who suffered from Russian aggression. We are talking about representatives of civil society who were released from Russian captivity, those who are in the occupied territories and need relocation, and relatives of those who are still in captivity.

In cooperation with the Office of the Prosecutor General, ZMINA verifies cases, monitors and documents cases of the deprivation of personal freedom of journalists in the occupied territories and forwards them to the OPG for further investigation.

Liudmyla Yankina (in the foreground)

Also, within the framework of the Working Group for the Protection of Activists and Journalists, work is underway to strengthen the responsibility of Russian propagandists for genocidal rhetoric and calls for genocide and to establish a mechanism for prosecution for obstructing journalistic activity.