US Senators Call on Biden to Help ICC Investigate Putin’s War Crimes

The United States has not agreed to provide information to the ICC out of concern that the court may one day examine US officials.

A bipartisan group of United States Senators has asked President Joe Biden to share information with the International Criminal Court (ICC) as it pursues war crimes charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin over the “illegal deportation” of children from Ukraine.

On Friday, six Democratic and Republican senators sent a letter to Biden urging him to support the ICC, which issued an order over Putin’s arrest last week, more than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine.

“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 perpetrators. ICC efforts,” the letter says. read

Biden has previously mentioned that Russia is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and the letter calls on his administration to help hold Putin to account.

However, the United States itself is not party to the ICC and has consistently denied that the body has authority to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by US forces.

That has put the US in an awkward position, as it holds Russian officials accountable while protecting its own actions and those of his allies from similar scrutiny.

Earlier this month, news outlets reported that the US Department of Defense would not share information about Russian atrocities with the ICC, fearing it could create a precedent that could eventually apply to the accused US officials. of war crimes.

The US Congress passed legislation in December easing restrictions on US cooperation with the ICC, but the New York Times reported that debates have continued within the Biden administration on the issue.

Friday’s letter, signed by Democrats Dick Durbin, Bob Menendez, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse, as well as Republicans Lindsey Graham and Thom Tillis, said the administration had “bipartisan support to keep” its “promise” to hold Putin.