RCMP Cpl. Kate Walaszczyk honed her policing skills as a homicide investigator, painstakingly reconstructing crime scenes and gathering evidence.
She is turning that hard-earned know-how to the global stage, working with other countries to document war crimes and crimes against humanity in the unfolding conflict in Ukraine.
Canada is co-operating with partners abroad, including the International Criminal Court, to ensure perpetrators of heinous acts – from rape to mass killings – are held accountable.
The focus of the RCMP investigation, launched over a year ago, is collection and preservation of evidence of possible crimes for use in prosecutions, which might take place much later.
The Mounties have asked anyone with a Canadian connection who has information about potential war crimes to contact the force through a special web portal.
The force is seeking information about acts of violence in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022, and in Crimea or the Donbas region since 2014 to assist the probe, conducted under the auspices of the federal War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity program.
The RCMP reviews and analyzes the shared information, sometimes following up with individuals to gather more details.
The investigators publicized the effort through posters and brochures aimed at people arriving in Canada in the initial waves fleeing Ukraine last year, and met others face-to-face in community meetings.
However, some people need time to deal with more immediate concerns and process their experiences before coming forward, Walaszczyk said in an interview.
She would not provide details about the number of people who have contacted the Mounties. “But I can say that we’ve received a fairly large volume of information.”
The collection effort continues and the team is looking to hear from those _ such as business people, students or even fighters in the war _ who have observations or digital evidence such as photos or video.
One hurdle is gaining the confidence of people from eastern Europe, where authorities were not always trusted in the Communist era. Walaszczyk, who is of Polish heritage, said she encountered a…
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