The crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, which are considered the most heinous crimes of concern to the international community, often occur during periods of armed conflict or civilian crisis and involve perpetrators, witnesses and above all victims.
While legally and evidentiary complex, EU Member States demonstrate strong engagement in investigating and prosecuting these types of crimes with 2 851 ongoing cases under investigation or trial in 2016.
However, during the past years EU Member States are increasingly confronted with core international crimes being committed by their own nationals participating in conflict areas such as Syria and Iraq or through the presence of third State nationals involved in core international crimes in their territory, whether as residents or as asylum seekers/refugees.
In this context and following the new Europol Regulation which came into effect in May 2017, Europol aims to facilitate the cooperation and coordination of EU Member States and Third Parties’ efforts to identify and investigate individuals, networks and groups involved in committing core international crimes through its newly established Analysis Project (AP CIC).