France is resolutely committed to ensuring that those responsible for the mass atrocities committed as part of Russia's aggression against Ukraine are held accountable for their actions and brought to justice. In accordance with the French President's instructions, the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas France and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs remain fully mobilized to lend practical support to the efforts being made to this end by the Ukrainian authorities and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In this framework, France is making a judge and several specialized investigators available to the Office of the ICC Prosecutor and has made an exceptional financial contribution of ?500,000 to the ICC. A mission of two forensic doctors and some 15 gendarmes from the National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute (IRCGN) has also been deployed on the ground for several weeks, in response to a request by the Ukrainian authorities. Under the impetus of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union, the mandate of the Eurojust agency was also reinforced to enable the agency to preserve, store and analyse evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide, with a view to redistributing them to the criminal investigations initiated by Ukraine, by the judicial authorities of the EU Member States and by the International Criminal Court.
On 14 July 2022, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs' Crisis and Support Centre provided the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office with a new mobile laboratory devoted to rapid DNA analysis and expertise. This DNA lab, similar to the one deployed on the ground by the French IRCGN's forensic support mission and financed by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is a deployable facility unmatched in the world of forensic genetics, enabling genetic analyses to be swiftly conducted on a large quantity of biological samples. It was developed by the French company TRACIP (Deveryware Group) in conjunction with the IRCGN, which is an expert in victim identification (DNA sampling and processing) and evidence gathering.
In solidarity with the Ukrainian people, France will continue to lend its support to the fight against impunity in Ukraine.