Digital technologies in documenting war crimes: legal and ethical aspects

Abstract

The relevance of the research The relevance of the research is determined by the need to create a standardized, legally verified, and ethically acceptable digital infrastructure for documenting war crimes in the context of growing volumes of digital evidence, interjurisdictional fragmentation, and the needs of post-conflict society in mechanisms for reparations and ensuring human rights. Aim of the research The aim of the research is to formalize and model the framework of a global digital platform for documenting war crimes, taking into account multi-source aggregation, forensic validation, legal stratification, and institutional interoperability in accordance with international standards. Methods of the research The research methodology consists of: comparative analysis of digital technologies, synthetized framework modelling, ontological modelling, functional and procedural modelling, scenario sequence modelling. Obtained results A comparative analysis of digital technologies for documenting war crimes revealed differentiation of evidentiary capacity according to the parameters of chain of custody, forensic reliability, metadata control, and normative congruence, which is critically important in the context of protecting human rights and implementing procedures for compensation for damage caused by military actions. Digital repositories and mobile evidence applications demonstrated the highest evidentiary stability, while artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) modules and automated attribution systems have risks of bias, opacity of inference, and limited explainability. In response to the identified challenges, a hybrid framework was developed with a synthesis of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT), blockchain, AI/ML, which ensures traceological integrity, legal validity and cross-jurisdictional interoperability of digital evidence in the context of post-conflict justice. The framework for digital documentation of war crimes is focused not only on optimizing the evidentiary process, but also on integration into mechanisms for protecting human rights and transitional justice. Academic novelty of the research The academic novelty of the research is the formalization of an integrated forensic legal framework of a digital platform for documenting jus in bello crimes, which combines AI/ML discrimination, blockchain anchoring, OSINT/GEOINT aggregation, metadata control, and legal stratification. The article is the first to develop an ontology of inter-component interaction focused on preserving chain of custody, tamper-resistance, explainability, and transjurisdictional admissibility. Prospects for further research Further research may focus on the development of a pilot project with phased validation of the framework in simulated criminal proceedings. The testing should cover the criteria of procedural relevance, evidentiary integrity, and transjurisdictional consistency.