A day forward of their assembly with the chief prosecutor on the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a number of members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee mentioned on Wednesday that they believed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had dedicated genocide in Ukraine.
Their remarks, made individually to reporters at The Hague, provided a possible preview of Thursday’s assembly with Karim Khan, the I.C.C.’s chief prosecutor. The Congress members, each Republicans and Democrats, had been in settlement in characterizing Mr. Putin’s actions as genocide — a legally significant time period within the context of the court docket, which has begun pursuing justice for crimes dedicated throughout Russia’s invasion.
Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas, mentioned that Mr. Putin “tried to erase a culture, a people and a religion, and that is the definition of genocide,” in response to The Associated Press. Representative Ann Wagner, a Republican from Missouri, referred to Mr. Putin’s “crimes against humanity, the downright genocide that this man has perpetrated.” And Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, mentioned the Russian chief had “himself made the case for genocide and his behavior subsequently has filled in blanks.”
For the worldwide court docket so as to add genocide expenses to its checklist of investigations associated to the warfare in Ukraine would require an particularly excessive burden of proof that Mr. Putin dedicated atrocities with the intent to destroy a specific group. In the assembly with Mr. Khan on the court docket on Thursday, the committee members will look at “the evidence itself,” Mr. McCaul mentioned, and talk about how the United States can assist within the assortment of extra intelligence to show its case.
The I.C.C. issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Putin in March, accusing him of authorizing the kidnapping and deportation of Ukrainian kids. The arrest warrant has sophisticated his freedom of motion — in July, Mr. Putin canceled a visit to South Africa, which might have been legally obliged to arrest him.
Established in 2002, the court docket is an unbiased standing physique that investigates warfare crimes, genocide and crimes towards humanity, however Mr. Putin is unlikely to face trial earlier than it. The court docket’s guidelines bar it from making an attempt defendants in absentia, and Russia is unlikely to give up its personal officers.
The United States has typically saved its distance from the court docket, fearful that participation may pave the way in which for the prosecution of Americans, however the Biden administration has labored extra carefully with the court docket. In July, President Biden ordered the federal government to share proof of Russian warfare crimes with the I.C.C., a significant shift in American coverage.
President Biden mentioned for the primary time in April that Mr. Putin was perpetuating genocide, emphasizing that it was his private view and never a authorized dedication. He first used the outline offhandedly throughout a speech at a bioethanol plant in Iowa, then later reaffirmed his selection of phrases.
“Yes, I called it genocide,” he mentioned. “It has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be Ukrainian.”
Source: www.nytimes.com