Ukraine's probe into Russian war crimes will get help from the U.S. and others

Ukraine's probe into Russian war crimes will get help from the U.S. and others

Transcript¹

The U.S. and European allies have accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine. The Biden administration says it's helping² Ukraine investigate. The Justice Department and State Department are assisting.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine seven weeks ago today. Since then, the U.S. and European allies have accused Russian forces of committing war crimes. The Biden administration says it's helping Ukraine investigate. So what does that American help look like? NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas joins us now with more. Hi, Ryan.

RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE³: Good morning.

FADEL: Good morning. So what is the U.S. doing right now to assist Ukraine in its investigation⁴?

LUCAS: So I spoke⁵ with Beth Van Schaack about this. She's the U.S. ambassador-at-large for Global Criminal Justice, top State Department official on this. And she says the Justice Department and State Department are working with European allies to support the Ukrainian prosecutor⁶ general who is investigating on the ground. The State Department is also helping fund outside experts, so experienced war crimes lawyers and investigators⁷ who are also assisting Ukrainian authorities. And Van Schaack says all of this is important.

BETH VAN SCHAACK: It's extremely important for the sanctity and integrity of history to document these crimes, to make sure that we have preserved and authenticated⁸ the evidence that is being generated in the various crime scenes around Ukraine.

LUCAS: And it's also important, she says, that victims know that the world sees what they experienced and that the world is working to help deliver justice.

FADEL: You said the U.S. is funding non-governmental groups that are helping investigate these possible war crimes. What are they doing?

LUCAS: Well, before the war began, the U.S. was funding a group of international experts who were helping Ukraine investigate possible war crimes following Russia's takeover of Crimea and Donbas back in 2014. This group is made up of prosecutors⁹, investigators, forensic¹⁰ experts, all people with extensive experience working on these types of cases. One of the people leading this effort is Clint Williamson. He's a former U.S. ambassador for war crimes issues. He says the group is ramping¹¹ up its operations now, following Russia's full-scale invasion and the sort of violence that we've seen in places like Bucha outside Kyiv. As part of this, there are also so-called mobile justice teams - so international experts on the ground in Ukraine assisting authorities in their investigations¹². At least one such group is currently in Ukraine. Now, Williamson says Ukraine has very solid, very capable investigators, but they've mostly dealt with lower-level perpetrators in the past, and the scope and scale of what they're facing now, he says, is very different.

CLINT WILLIAMSON: You know, you're potentially looking at command responsibility cases that can go up to senior political and military leaders. So this becomes just a much more complex investigative and prosecutorial¹³ approach.

LUCAS: And that's where the outside experts' experience and expertise¹⁴ can come in assisting the Ukrainians.

FADEL: What types of evidence are likely to come into play here?

LUCAS: Well, all sorts of things - investigators will be interviewing eyewitnesses¹⁵. They'll be looking at ballistics evidence to show what types of munitions¹⁶ were used. They can identify what Russian military units were present at a given time in a given place and who was in command. The U.S. and its allies can also dig in to their own intelligence capabilities¹⁷, including what's known as signals intelligence, so intercepts¹⁸ of communications. Here's Van Schaack again.

VAN SCHAACK: Gathering¹⁹ all of this together will be very important direct evidence of either orders having been received or individuals admitting to having participated in the commission of international crime.

FADEL: So right now, all about documentation, but this is all with an eye toward potential war crime trials in the future. What could the venue²⁰ be for trials like these?

LUCAS: Well, there are a couple of options. One would be the International Criminal Court, which has opened an investigation. The U.S. isn't party to the courts so that complicates²¹ things a bit on the U.S. side. But there are also Ukrainian courts, which, of course, have jurisdiction²² here. There's also the possibility of courts in some European countries, such as Germany, whose laws allow national authorities to prosecute²³ international crimes. But this is still very much an active war, and as you said, the important thing now is to document what's going on.

FADEL: NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas. Thank you, Ryan.

LUCAS: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 authenticated   

v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的过去式和过去分词 )；鉴定，使生效

参考例句：

• The letter has been authenticated by handwriting experts. 这封信已由笔迹专家证明是真的。
• The date of manufacture of the jewellery has not been authenticated. 这些珠宝的制造日期尚未经证实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

10 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

11 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

12 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

13 prosecutorial   

公诉人的，原告的； 起诉的

参考例句：

• If prosecutorial misconduct results in a mistrial, a later prosecution may be barred. 如果检察官的不轨行为导致审判无效，再行起诉可能会被除数禁止。 来自口语例句
• Prosecutorial supervision is required according to public power attribution of civil litigation. 民事诉讼的个性和检察监督是对立统一的关系，并不排斥检察监督。

14 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

15 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

16 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

17 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

18 intercepts   

（数学）截距( intercept的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It intercepts a portion of the light impinging on the photocell. 它遮住一部分照射在光电管上的光。
• The pelletfilter intercepts the particulate matter. 颗粒过滤器将颗粒物进行拦截。

19 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

20 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

21 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

22 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

23 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？