Project objective

The objective of the MATRA-Ukraine project is to strengthen the capacity of the War Crimes Unit (WCU), enhance the expertise of the judiciary and empower civil society organizations (CSOs) and defense and victim lawyers in Ukraine to more adequately investigate, prosecute, adjudicate and monitor international crimes. This support is extremely timely, as Ukraine is due to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC and suffers from a lack of capacity to deal with international crimes.

The project will support mechanisms to improve cooperation between different governmental agencies and improve dialogue between government and civil society. We will involve investigators, prosecutors, and associated analysts and support staff of the WCU. The judiciary, as well as defense and victim lawyers, will also form an integral part in this project. In addition, CSOs and journalists will play an important role with their commitment and experience in documenting, monitoring and reporting on international crimes. The support of the general public will be sought through public dialogue events, organized with the support of Dutch and Ukrainian CSOs. Facilitating networking events, contact and cross-fertilization of ideas between the various stakeholders will support the Ukrainian government, CSOs, and the media to more effectively deal with international crimes and further law enforcement.