Ukraine to create first Internet portal about key events, crimes in temporarily occupied territories
Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC), the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ukrainian Center of National Remembrance, the International Renaissance Foundation and the Prometheus Environmental Security Research Center signed a Memorandum of Cooperation providing for the creation of an Internet portal to document the facts of crimes in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
"On behalf of the President of Ukraine and with the aim of restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine, de-occupation and reintegration of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the team of the Representative Office systematically works towards the introduction of policies and the foundations of transitional justice. Everyone's right to know the truth about the events of the occupation of Crimea is, of course, one of the most important and mandatory elements of our work in this direction," said permanent representative of the President of Ukraine in the ARC Anton Korynevych, according to the press service of the head of state.
It is envisaged that the portal will publish a variety of data, including eyewitness accounts, archival sources, media information, decisions and resolutions of international organizations, photos and videos.
"First, these will be the first 30 stories about crimes committed in the temporarily occupied territory: on human rights, war crimes, the environment, the economy, etc. The system will work with a convenient search: by persons, by places, by time," said head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Anton Drobovych.
It is noted that a number of requirements will be put forward to the project, such as reliability, objectivity based on official data. In particular, the portal will be based on the results of the work of the Department for Supervision of Criminal Proceedings in relation to crimes committed in the context of an armed conflict, the Prosecutor General's Office, facts and evidence documented by non-governmental organizations.
Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Gunduz Mammedov recalled that since 2014, the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and the prosecutor's office have been recording and investigating crimes committed in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. This is more than 20,000 criminal offenses, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation Oleksandr Sushko added that the creation of such a portal would allow Ukraine to more systematically convey information about crimes and incidents in the temporarily occupied territories to the international community.
According to the press service of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, information on the portal will be published in two languages, Ukrainian and English. Among other things, data will be made public on key events since the beginning of the occupation of Crimea in February 2014 and the further start of the war in eastern Ukraine by Russia: the activities of Russian troops and the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities and the international community, as well as information on specific individuals and main areas that were influenced by occupation of part of the country's territory over the years. A thematic module dedicated to the occupation of Crimea will be the first to appear on the portal.
"The materials of the prosecutor's office of the autonomy have documented numerous crimes of occupation: premeditated killings, abductions, torture, persecution, hundreds of illegal searches and detentions of Ukrainian citizens on racial, religious and political grounds. Therefore, it is very important that society has the opportunity to obtain objective information that takes place in Crimea after the occupation, to know the truth about the real situation with human rights and in relation to other areas that were influenced by the occupation, in particular, the protection of cultural heritage, ecology, the militarization of the peninsula, appropriation of public and private property, etc.," Head of Kyiv-based Prosecutor's Office of the ARC and the city of Sevastopol Ihor Ponochovny said.