As noted by the Committee, Truth Hounds document international crimes systematically, collecting witness testimonies and other evidence to contribute to investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Ukrainian authorities, and investigators in other states. In their work, the organisation combines open-source intelligence (OSINT) with professional on-site field work.

CivilMPlus thanks the Truth Hounds for their important work and congratulates on the well-deserved award!

By the way, Truth Hounds recently prepared a reference book “War Crimes: An Investigative Methodology for NGOs”, designed to help, first of all, non-governmental organisations documenting war crimes.

The book is available in Ukrainian and English.

The session was attended by 25 people who were forced to leave their homes in the once beautiful and peaceful cities of Mariupol, Sloviansk and Mykolaiv. All because of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

As the “Drukarnia” team notes, psychological and psychosocial rehabilitation of displaced persons is currently very much needed, since many of them experienced the beginning of the war in Donbas in 2014.

Psychological support for the participants was provided by psychologists of the mobile brigade of social and psychological assistance of the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, who shared with them practical techniques for dealing with anxiety and coping with these difficult times.

The activities of the “Drukarnia” are implemented with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and DRA e.V.

Activists from Ukraine, Poland, Georgia, Austria and Germany came to the beautiful Polish city of Wojnowice to talk about the work of the civil society in times of war, youth activism, building new partnerships and how to address mental health, as well as burnout risks.

Participants practised in art: filmmaking, drawing, and made collages.

The organisers are already planning for the next summer school for 16th-25th of August 2022 in the Subcarpathian region of Poland.

For more details and to apply, please, fill the form at: https://forms.gle/UA9sW89LMe5xY9r2A

Deadline is 31 July 2022!

The school is part of a project funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

• establish the position of the OSCE Representative on Civil Society to achieve a more systematic and holistic dialogue with civil society and better mainstream civil society’s expertise in decision-making
• strengthen co-operation with civil society within the three pillars of the organisation’s work – human dimension, politico-military, and economic-environmental
• renew the organisation’s presence in Ukraine to support human rights defenders and civil society on the ground
• strengthen its monitoring mechanisms of the situation with the implementation of the human rights commitments and support civil society activists in participating States with non-democratic regimes.

Roman Avramenko urged German partners for a more systematic expert presence and support in war crimes documentation. He stressed that foreign experts are most welcome to visit war affected regions outside of Kyiv and support the work of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, especially on a regional level.

The Truth Hounds is a team of experts who are working on documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity in the war contexts since 2014, including during the current stage of the Russian war against Ukraine.

The text of the speech is available here.

Slovyansk is the hometown of “Drukarnia”. The team was forced to temporarily leave it and move to Ivano-Frankivsk due to a full-scale Russian invasion.

According to officials, about 25,000 people remain in Slovyansk, many of them elderly people, large families and people with disabilities.

253 residents of Slovyansk and Mykolayivka (Kramatorsk district) received food kits and hygiene products thanks  to the international humanitarian funds Road To Ukraine and UAid Direct in partnership with the Coalition of Frontline Communities “On the Line of Conflict” and the NGO “Strong Communities”.

The “Teplytsia” Initiatives Platform in Sloyansk has assisted in the distribution on the ground.

The aid was delivered with the help of a cargo bus, purchased earlier, thanks to donations from many residents of Berlin, Leipzig and other German cities.

The fundraising campaign and purchase of the van was organised by the Peaceful Revolution Foundation and the DRA e.V.

They are temporarily in Ivano-Frankivsk, but continue to engage in civic activism.

One of the central projects for the team was the creation of a shelter for activists and volunteers leaving the areas of active hostilities. Creating for them, albeit temporary, but safe space for living and working.

The implementation of the project became possible with the support and assistance of other public initiatives and organisations. The local youth council helped with the premises and the subsequent arrangement of the shelter. NGO “Rizni” attracted funds from the Danish Refugee Council, providing beds, mattresses, kitchen utensils, etc.

Activists living in a shelter can work in a co-working space on its territory, where the Drukarnia team works as well. They hope that this format will inspire more joint projects by various organisations.

Also, a small warehouse for humanitarian aid for the east has been created on the territory of the shelter, which is filled thanks to the support of partners, and is sent to the east of Ukraine as soon as possible.

She stressed that only by having a permanent monitoring tool on the ground will the OSCE be able to effectively follow war crimes and develop a duly response.

Oleksandra also stressed that the operational work of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism concerning the monitoring of the situation in Ukraine should serve as a blueprint for the OSCE’s future work with other countries. For example, it can be used when monitoring the suppression of civil societies and human rights violations in Belarus and Russia.

The Moscow Mechanism is named after the city where the Conference on the Human Dimension took place in 1991. It allows for one or more OSCE participants to request a mission of experts to address a particular question of human rights.