[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 964 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 964
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United
States condemns the Russian Government's gross violations of
international law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity,
stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and supports the
efforts of international organizations to help people displaced by war
and conflict.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 7, 2022
Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Carolyn B.
Maloney of New York, and Mr. Kahele) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United
States condemns the Russian Government's gross violations of
international law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity,
stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and supports the
efforts of international organizations to help people displaced by war
and conflict.
Whereas the Government of Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, has engaged in a
military invasion of Ukraine and gross violations of international law
amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity;
Whereas the law of armed conflict, also known as international humanitarian law,
are a set of international rules regulating the conduct of armed
conflict;
Whereas the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols are the core of
international humanitarian law, and many rules contained in these
treaties are considered customary international law, binding on all
states, whether or not they have ratified the treaties;
Whereas Russia's military invasion of Ukraine constitutes an international armed
conflict governed by international humanitarian law as well as customary
international humanitarian law;
Whereas Article 51(2) of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions,
prohibits the targeting of civilians, as well as ``acts or threats of
violence, the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the
civilian population'';
Whereas Article 76 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, states
that women ``shall be protected in particular against rape, forced
prostitution, and any other form of indecent assault'';
Whereas Article 77 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions expresses
that ``children shall be the object of special respect and shall be
protected against any form of indecent assault'';
Whereas, on June 19, 2008, the United Nations Security Council adopted
Resolution 1820, noting that ``rape and other forms of sexual violence
can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive
act with respect to genocide'', and calls for ``prosecuting persons
responsible for such acts'';
Whereas Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
defines ``crimes against humanity'' as acts such as murder,
extermination, rape, persecution, and all other inhumane acts of a
similar character intentionally causing great suffering, which are
committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against
any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian airstrike hit Kyiv's main television tower,
damaging broadcasting infrastructure, killing at least 5 people, and
injuring others;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian airstrike targeted Freedom Square in
Kharkiv, as cars were stopped at a traffic light on their morning
commute;
Whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized Russia's airstrike
on Freedom Square as a ``war crime'';
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Secretary
of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia for killing civilians, striking
``schools, hospitals and residential buildings'' in Ukraine;
Whereas United States ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield
expressed to the United Nations on March 2, 2022, that videos show
Russian forces moving lethal weaponry into Ukraine, including cluster
munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the Geneva
Conventions;
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs accused Russian
soldiers of raping women in Ukrainian cities;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, Secretary of State Blinken stated that the United
States has seen credible reports of Russia engaging in ``deliberate
attacks on civilians, which would constitute a war crime'';
Whereas Article 18 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, states that ``civilian
hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and
maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but
shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the
conflict'';
Whereas Article 12 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions provides
that ``medical units shall be respected and protected at all times and
shall not be the object of attack'';
Whereas, on March 2, 2022, Ukraine's foreign ministry reported that a Russian
missile strike destroyed the Pavlusenko maternity hospital;
Whereas, on March 5, 2022, the World Health Organization confirmed several
attacks on health care centers in Ukraine, causing multiple deaths and
injuries;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, the Director-General of the World Health Organization
expressed that ``attacks on healthcare facilities or workers breach
medical neutrality and are violations of international humanitarian
law'';
Whereas Article 53 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, prohibits
committing any ``acts of hostility directed against the historic
monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the
cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples'';
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of
Ukraine, announced that a missile hit the location of the Babyn Yar
Holocaust Memorial complex, a place where thousands of Jewish people
were killed between 1941 and 1943;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian missile hit Freedom Square in the center of
Kharkiv, Ukraine, causing severe damage to an opera house, concert hall,
and government offices;
Whereas Article 15 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions,
establishes that installations containing dangerous forces, including
nuclear electrical generating stations, ``shall not be made the object
of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such
attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe
losses among the civilian population'';
Whereas, on March 3, 2022, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy accused Russian forces
of ``nuclear terror'' because ``Russian tanks are shooting at the
nuclear blocks'' in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe's
largest nuclear power station;
Whereas, on March 3, 2022, the United States embassy in Ukraine called the
Russian attack on the Ukrainian nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia a ``war
crime'';
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, President Zelenskyy expressed to the European
Parliament, ``we are fighting for our rights, for our freedoms, for
life, for our life, and now we are fighting for survival'';
Whereas, on March 2, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly
voted to condemn Russia for its military invasion of Ukraine and
demanded that the Russian Federation immediately, completely, and
unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of
Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders;
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a
resolution establishing an independent international commission of
inquiry to investigate any violations of human rights resulting from the
Russian Federation's military invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas, on February 25, 2022, the Russian Federation threatened Sweden and
Finland with military and political repercussions if they join the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance committed to the
collective defense of members against attacks;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
stated that 1,500,000 refugees have fled Ukraine, making this the
fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II;
Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is helping to coordinate
Ukraine's requests for assistance and is supporting Allies in the
delivery of humanitarian and nonlethal aid;
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the United Nations World Food Programme launched
an emergency operation to provide food assistance for people fleeing
Ukraine to neighboring countries;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) spokesperson, Shabia Mantoo, announced that the UNHCR is
coordinating the refugee response with other United Nations agencies and
nongovernmental organization partners, in support of national
authorities helping people fleeing Ukraine;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, the United Nations and humanitarian partners launched
coordinated emergency appeals for a combined $1,700,000,000 to urgently
deliver humanitarian support to people in Ukraine and refugees in
neighboring countries;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, Secretary of State Blinken stated that energy
independence and energy security is ``critical to maintaining one's
sovereignty and independence''; and
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, international law experts, including an American
lawyer who served as a prosecutor during the Nuremberg trials, Benjamin
Ferencz, called for the creation of a Special Tribunal for the
Punishment of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, similar to the
International Military Tribunal set up by the Nuremberg Charter in 1945:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) forcefully condemns the continued use of unlawful and
indiscriminate violence against civilian populations by the
Government of Russia, its allies, and any other parties to the
conflict;
(2) urges that the global community hold Vladimir Putin and
the Russian Government accountable for war crimes committed
during the military invasion of Ukraine;
(3) urges the United States and its allies to continue
providing defense security assistance and humanitarian aid to
Ukraine as Ukrainians valiantly defend themselves against
Russia's military invasion;
(4) supports the continued use of sanctions against Russia
and its allies until Russia ends its military invasion and
unequivocally recognizes Ukraine's internationally recognized
borders and political independence;
(5) urges the United States to increase support for
international organizations, such as the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, helping Ukrainians fleeing conflict
and more than 82,000,000 people around the world forcibly
displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human
rights violations;
(6) urges the United States to treat all forcibly displaced
people with dignity and abide by the Protocol Related to the
Status of Refugees, ratified by the Senate in 1968, and
thereafter considered the ``supreme Law of the Land'' under
article VI, section 2 of the Constitution;
(7) urges the United States and members of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to meet NATO's funding
needs to ensure the ability to provide collective defense and
innovation;
(8) urges NATO to maintain its commitment to innovating and
work toward solving and dealing with emerging and disruptive
technologies; and
(9) stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are
fighting for their freedom and democracy, Slava Ukraini, glory
to Ukraine.
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