Purpose of this questionnaire
This questionnaire aims to identify persons who have been victims or witnesses of war crimes committed in Ukraine since 24 February 2022 and have sought refuge in Belgium.
What is a war crime?
A war crime is an act committed in the context of an armed conflict in violation of the fundamental rules of warfare under international law.
Examples include the killing - or attempted killing - of civilians and prisoners of war, torture, sexual assault, hostage-taking, the use of children as soldiers, large-scale looting or destruction of property, attacks on civilians and the use of chemical weapons. War criminals may have committed these acts themselves or helped someone else to do so. They may also have ordered them or been complicit in some other way. Military officers and leaders may, in some cases, also be held responsible if they could have acted to prevent or stop the crime.
In the context of the war crimes committed in Ukraine, the police and judicial authorities of several European countries have decided to work together to unite their efforts to identify and prosecute the perpetrators of these war crimes and bring justice to the victims.
You may have information that could be important for investigations led by national and international judicial authorities.
To this end, we have prepared some questions below. Answering these questions does not mean that you will automatically be contacted by investigators, but you may be.
You do not have to answer these questions. Whether or not you respond will not affect your stay or status as an asylum seeker in Belgium.
The Belgian police thank you for your cooperation.
