This team - which responds to the request for support and will be available to the International Criminal Court - will have a minimum of eight specialists and has been created by means of an order signed by the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez, which constitutes and establishes the availability, operability and support and reaction capabilities of this police team whose objective is to investigate serious crimes within international law.
The Police Support Team is made up of members of the National Police and the Civil Guard belonging to the Forensic, Judicial and Investigation Police units, as well as specialists in neutralising explosives and technicians in Nuclear, Radiological, Biological and Chemical incidents (NRBQ units).
The members of this team will arrive in Ukraine in the coming days. For security reasons, aspects such as deployment dates and the specific territory in which they will operate are classified.
In any case, once deployed in Ukraine, this team will collect and analyse the evidence necessary to identify the victims of possible actions contrary to international law, as well as the circumstances in which the events took place.
On the ground, they will also investigate the type of equipment, weapons and explosive devices used, as well as the techniques employed and, where appropriate, gather information on the people or groups responsible for the serious crimes under investigation.
Permanent team
Order 6/2022 issued this Wednesday by the Secretary of State for Security updates and expands Order 1/2006, which conceived the EPA as a permanent group with the capacity to intervene - at the request of the authorities of other States - in situations resulting from major terrorist attacks and to provide advice and collaboration in the investigation carried out by the respective judicial and police authorities.
This EPA's scope is now extended to armed conflicts, "scenarios that may give rise to the commission of serious crimes that violate human rights or violations of international humanitarian law, the clarification of which may in many cases exceed the capacities of the institutions of the states affected or involved", according to the text of the order.
This extension also makes the EPA available to the International Criminal Court, with jurisdiction over the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole - complementary to national criminal jurisdictions - and which may require the cooperation and support of the police capacities of the signatory States to the Rome Treaty in order to carry out its functions.
Non official translation
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