Dmytro Koval, "From Documentation to Accountability: The Truth Hounds Experience"
Time: Tue, Nov. 17th, 4:00-6:30 PM
Location: Lucy Ellis Lounge, Languages, Culture, & Linguistics Building, and on Zoom
Abstract:
What can a civil society organization actually do to advance accountability for international crimes? Drawing on more than a decade of Truth Hounds’ work in Ukraine, this talk will examine how documentation can be transformed into investigations, legal analysis, case-building, and engagement with national and international justice mechanisms. It will explore the interaction between Ukrainian proceedings, the International Criminal Court, foreign jurisdictions, and quasi-judicial mechanisms, and how civil society can strategically navigate this “accountability multiverse” to turn information about atrocities into opportunities for truth and justice. The talk will also reflect on the challenges of sustaining accountability work amid increasingly unsustainable patterns of funding allocation and broader geopolitical turbulence.
About the Speaker:
Dmytro graduated from Odessa Law Academy with a Ph.D. in international law. He was a research fellow at Stanford University, Central European University, Jagiellonian University, and the Polish Academy of Sciences. He has lectured at universities across Europe and the Americas and advised international organizations, Ukrainian government institutions, and NGOs on foreign policy and international law. Between 2021 and 2025, Dmytro represented Ukraine in the UNESCO Protocol 1999 Committee. Dmytro is a member of the board of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Center for Civil Liberties.
Co-sponsors for the talk: College of Law, Ukrainian Studies Program, CGS, REEEC.