JDEAL is a mobile laboratory composed of containers. Credit: Netherlands Defence
Ukraine will soon be able to use a mobile research laboratory to investigate war crimes.
Netherlands Defence is donating a Joint Deployable Exploitation and Analysis Laboratory (JDEAL) for this purpose. A delegation from Ukraine signed the contract for the transfer last week. The Netherlands is thus contributing to combating impunity and investigating war crimes in the war-torn country.
JDEAL is a mobile laboratory consisting of 13 containers. It contains varied resources to perform forensic and technical investigation work on location, including examining fingerprints, analyzing DNA traces and reading mobile phones.
The mobile lab is easy to transport and can be deployed within a few days. A team of researchers from Ukraine has been trained in the Netherlands in the past period to work with the laboratory. The intention is that the Hon. Prof. MS Bokarius Forensic Science Institute will use it. This is a forensic institute and falls under the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. The lab will be transported to Kyiv as soon as possible.
In this case, it is not a military donation, but a civilian donation from Defence. It shows the importance that the government attaches to investigating war crimes in Ukraine. The Netherlands is already contributing to this in several areas. For example, this is done by deploying forensic investigation teams from the Royal Marechaussee in Ukraine. They conduct investigations under the auspices of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Defence also contributes with other resources and financially.
JDEAL is a collaborative project of the European Defence Agency, which supports initiatives in the field of international cooperation. JDEAL is a Dutch initiative. It is an effective example of international, innovative cooperation in the field of trace research.
Republished courtesy of The Netherlands Defence