War Crime Prosecutions Enter a New Digital Age

The level allows users to virtually locomotion done the metropolis of Timbuktu, arsenic good arsenic spot it from above. Nested wrong the virtual recreation of the metropolis are pieces of video, photo, and audio evidence, showing wherever and erstwhile an lawsuit allegedly occurred. For instance, users tin research down a street, and brushwood an point labeled to a corresponding portion of evidence, click connected it, and spot a video of a peculiar infinitesimal that shows who was allegedly present, and what occurred.

SITU’s level combines drone footage, outer imagery, laser scans, and different forms of ocular grounds that, Samuels says, allows the judges to spot the grounds implicit clip and abstraction successful a mode that would not different beryllium possible. This is peculiarly important successful cases of crimes against humanity, which necessitate the crimes to beryllium systematic and widespread, arsenic opposed to a single, isolated incident. And helium says there’s much worth to the level than conscionable helping the judges signifier ocular grounds that supports witnesser testimony.

“In the lawsuit of Timbuktu, the information concern successful Mali has benignant of gotten worse and worse. And the judges decidedly were not capable to spell determination successful person,” Samuels says. For instance, the level includes the interior of a erstwhile slope that functioned arsenic the office of Islamic Police, and different tract wherever idiosyncratic was flogged.

“It tin besides go a instrumentality for interviewing witnesses astir what they experienced,” Koenig says of SITU’s platform. “If you deliberation astir immoderate of the connection barriers and taste barriers, not having a touchpoint similar that, person them locomotion you done what happened to them tin beryllium astir guesswork astatine times of trying to portion unneurotic their story, peculiarly erstwhile there's a batch of trauma progressive and memories are fragmented oregon recollections are fragmented.”

Sarah Zarmsky, adjunct lecturer astatine Essex Law School, says, however, that often the defence teams for the accused deficiency the aforesaid resources offered to the prosecution.

“This level was designed for the prosecution,” she says. “So, portion SITU Research does large work, the defence besides isn't coming successful with that aforesaid expertise. And truthful determination are a batch of just proceedings implications there.”

In an article published successful 2023, ICC main authoritative Karim Khan noted that “the defence sought afloat entree to the virtual platform, and required (and were provided) grooming and guidance connected its use, truthful that they could besides deploy it arsenic needed.”

In the lawsuit of the ICC, wherever the tribunal allows astir each grounds to beryllium submitted and past decides aft however overmuch value to delegate each portion of evidence, that tin mean an overburdened defence squad whitethorn not person the clip to sift done each portion of evidence. For thing caller similar the level created by SITU, Zarmsky says, it’s unclear however overmuch value the tribunal mightiness enactment connected it erstwhile it comes down to making a ruling.

But Khan asserted that the “Trial Chamber’s acceptance of the level shows that the instrumentality and process of the ICC is acceptable to accommodate forward-thinking approaches to the presumption of evidence.”