According to Vice President Kamala Harris, the US government has found that Russia committed crimes against humanity during its war in Ukraine.
“We have evaluated the data, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt: These are crimes against humanity,” Harris said during a lecture at the Munich Security Conference. “You will be held accountable to all those who have perpetrated these crimes, as well as to their superiors who are complicit in those crimes,” she added.
The proclamation is the United States’ toughest claim yet as it strives to penalise Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Last March, the US government declared that members of Russia’s armed forces had committed war crimes in Ukraine. President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have stated that war crimes have occurred, and Biden has gone so far as to claim that atrocities committed by Moscow’s troops qualify as “genocide.”
In a statement released Saturday by the State Department, Blinken repeated Harris’ sentiments.
“We save determinations of crimes against humanity for the most serious atrocities,” he stated. “These crimes are not random or spontaneous; they are part of the Kremlin’s pervasive and systematic war on the civilian population of Ukraine.”
While the most recent crimes against humanity determination is noteworthy, it is mostly symbolic for the time being. It does not instantly result in any specific penalties, nor does it provide the US the ability to prosecute Russians accused of crimes against humanity. Yet, it may provide evidence to international agencies such as the International Criminal Court, which works to hold culprits accountable, to properly prosecute those crimes.
Organizing the evidence
Harris’ declaration Saturday is just days before Russia’s one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine. The vice president is in Germany as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to demonstrate support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and solidarity among Western partners who have contributed billions of dollars in aid, finance, and weapons to counter Russia’s actions. On Monday, Biden will travel to Poland.
Harris stated on Saturday that she knows “firsthand the importance of gathering facts and putting them up against the law” as a former prosecutor who began “as a young lawyer in the courtroom and subsequently ran California’s Department of Justice.”
In her address, conducted inside Munich’s historic Bayerischer Hof hotel, Harris revealed some of the evidence that could be used to prosecute Russia for crimes against humanity. The vice president cited concrete examples from news clips and official reports.
“First and foremost, we have observed Russian forces commit horrible atrocities and war crimes since the beginning of this unwarranted conflict,” Harris said.
“Russian soldiers have pursued a systematic and systemic offensive against a civilian population – horrible acts of murder, torture, rape, and deportation. “Executions, beatings, and electrocution,” she added. “Russian officials have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people from Ukraine to Russia, including children. Children have been cruelly removed from their families.”
Harris’ address mentioned evidence of indiscriminate Russian strikes on people, including the bombing of a maternity facility, which killed a pregnant woman, and a theatre in Mariupol, which killed hundreds. The vice president mentioned the awful photographs coming out of Bucha of men and women being shot and left to fester in the streets, as well as UN allegations of a 4-year-old girl being sexually raped by a Russian soldier.
“Barbaric and horrible,” Harris described the situation.
According to a White House fact sheet, the US has donated $30 million to facilitate the investigation of war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine since 2022. The Biden administration is asking Congress for approximately $30 million more to help with this issue.
As it was when the US administration announced that Russia committed war crimes in March, it remains to be seen whether individuals accused of committing the alleged crimes will face any consequences, and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin himself will be held accountable.
However, Harris said on Saturday that the United States will support the judicial process.
“In the face of these irrefutable facts, to all of us here in Munich, let us reassert our commitment to accountability. “Let us rededicate ourselves to the rule of law,” she urged. “As for the United States, we will continue to support the judicial process in Ukraine and international investigations because justice must be served. Let us all agree, on behalf of all known and undiscovered victims, that justice must be given.”
‘For however long it takes’
In her statement on Saturday, Harris stated that the US would “firmly support” Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” praising the Ukrainian people’s determination and tenacity.
“Ukraine will face more dark days. “The everyday misery of war will continue,” she predicted. “But, Putin is incorrect if he believes he can wait us out. Time is against him.”
In recent months, speculation has centred on how much additional cash the US will supply to Ukraine’s military effort now that Republicans control the US House of Representatives and have promised no “blank cheques.” But, Harris underlined on Saturday how many congressional leaders were in Munich for the meeting. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among those present, as were Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.
“They’ve come together because they recognise the stakes. The leadership of these lawmakers has been critical to America’s support for Ukraine, and President Biden and I am certain that their support will continue,” stated the vice president.
According to Blinken, the US government has a “deep stake” in a “just and sustainable” peace in Ukraine.
“Any peace must be consistent with the values of the United Nations Charter. It is fundamentally against the interests of every other country in the world to end up with a result that indicates the seizure of territory by force, that validates that,” Blinken said during a discussion panel in Munich with his respective German and Ukrainian counterparts, Annalena Baerbock and Dmytro Kuleba.
“Because if we do that, we would open a Pandora’s box around the world, and every would-be aggressor will conclude that if Russia got away with it, we can get away with it. And that is not in anyone’s best interests because it is a formula for world war,” he warned.
Speaking in Munich on Saturday, CIA Director Bill Burns stated that intelligence sharing with NATO countries has been critical in aiding Ukraine confront Russia’s incursion.
“It is a two-way street. Our NATO partners have taught us a lot. “We also learn a lot from the Ukrainians,” Burns remarked during a separate panel session. “This has been the kind of vital cement in the alliance that the president has formed,” he said.
Conversely, Harris has raised alarm over China’s sustained backing for Russia since the start of the Ukrainian conflict.
“We have also seen nations like North Korea and Iran provide weaponry in support of Russia’s horrific campaign. We are also concerned that Beijing has strengthened its ties with Moscow since the war began,” Harris said.
“Any moves by China to provide lethal support to Russia in the future will merely reward aggression, extend the killing, and undermine a rules-based order,” she warned.
According to AWN, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, will visit Russia this month, the first visit to the nation by a Chinese official in that post since Moscow’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine.
Wang stated on Saturday that China was prepared to deliver its peace proposal for Ukraine, a rare remark that referred to the crisis in Ukraine as a war.
“This warfare cannot continue,” he stated. “We must consider what efforts we may make to bring this war to a conclusion.”
