A bipartisan group of senators called on President Biden on Friday to order the US government to share evidence about Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, despite Pentagon resistance to such a move. .
In a letter to Mr. Biden obtained by The New York TimesSenators, including Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, and Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, respectively, noted that in December, Congress had changed a law to allow for greater cooperation with the court. investigations stemming from Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying it was time for the government to do so.
“Last year’s bipartisan action by Congress to enhance that support was done in collaboration with your administration to balance all perspectives on the United States’ relationship with the ICC,” the senators wrote. “However, months later, as the ICC is working to build cases against Russian officials, including Putin himself, the US has reportedly yet to share key evidence that could help these prosecutions.”
The letter came a week after the court issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and another senior official in his administration, accusing them of orchestrating the kidnappings and deportations of thousands of children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
The arrest warrants have heightened attention on an impasse within the Biden administration, first reported by The Timeson whether the United States should transfer evidence collected by intelligence agencies on kidnappings and other alleged war crimes to the International Criminal Court.
“Despite the urgent need to hold perpetrators of atrocities to account, as evidenced by the ICC arrest warrant against Putin, recent reports suggest that his administration has yet to use this new authority to provide much-needed assistance to the ICC efforts,” the senators said. wrote.
The letter was also signed by Senators Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee; Sheldon Whitehouse, the Rhode Island Democrat who chairs the Budget Committee; Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina; and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat.
Since the International Criminal Court was established a generation ago as the permanent venue to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the US government has had a mistrustful relationship with it, fearing it could be used to prosecute Americans.
Administrations on both sides have taken the position that the court should not exercise jurisdiction over citizens of countries that did not sign the treaty that created it—including Russia and the United States—even if the alleged war crimes took place in countries that did. signed, such as Ukraine or Afghanistan.
In the early days of the court, Congress prohibited the US government from helping its investigators in a number of ways. But the widespread desire in Washington to hold Putin and others in his chain of command accountable has led to a thaw, and lawmakers included a provision in a large appropriations bill late last year that creates an exception, allowing the United States to assist in court investigations stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, according to officials familiar with the internal deliberations, the Pentagon has continued to oppose sharing evidence with the courtarguing that doing so would create a precedent that could make it easier for the court to one day try to prosecute the Americans.
Other parts of the government, such as the State and Justice departments, want to transfer the evidence, the officials said, and Biden has not acted to resolve the impasse.
The White House has stressed that it supports efforts to hold Russia accountable for war crimes, including providing assistance to Ukrainian prosecutors, but has not publicly addressed the internal dispute over the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to offer further comment this week.
“Knowing your support for the important cause of accountability in Ukraine, we urge you to move quickly in supporting the ICC’s work so that Putin and others around him know in no uncertain terms that accountability and justice for their crimes are yet to come.” the senators wrote.
