[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 531 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 531
Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning the Russian Federation,
President Vladimir Putin, members of the Russian Security Council, the
Russian Armed Forces, and Russian military commanders for committing
flagrant acts of aggression and other atrocities rising to the level of
crimes against humanity and war crimes against the people of Ukraine
and others.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 3, 2022
Mr. Graham (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cardin, Mr. King, Ms. Ernst,
Mr. Tillis, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Cornyn, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Moran, Mr.
Rubio, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Booker, Ms. Collins, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms.
Klobuchar, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Marshall, and Mr. Wicker) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning the Russian Federation,
President Vladimir Putin, members of the Russian Security Council, the
Russian Armed Forces, and Russian military commanders for committing
flagrant acts of aggression and other atrocities rising to the level of
crimes against humanity and war crimes against the people of Ukraine
and others.
Whereas the United States of America has a responsibility to uphold the values
of freedom, democracy, and human rights across the globe;
Whereas there are several universal declarations promoting human rights, laws of
war, and upholding the dignity of individuals;
Whereas the United Nations Charter Preamble states that member nations
``reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights [and] in the dignity and
worth of the human person'';
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Preamble states that ``Member
States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the
United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of
human rights and fundamental freedoms'';
Whereas the Russian Federation joined as an original member of the United
Nations as the former Union of Soviet Socialists Republics on October
24, 1945, and as such has a duty to abide by the conditions of the
United Nations Charter;
Whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an international tribunal that
seeks to uphold the rule of law, especially in areas where no rule of
law exists, by investigating and trying individuals charged ``with the
gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war
crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression'';
Whereas the ICC recognizes the grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions as
constituting a war crime, including ``willful killing, torture or
inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, willfully causing
great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive
destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military
necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly'';
Whereas the ICC also recognizes other serious violations of the laws and customs
applicable in international armed conflict as war crimes, including
``[i]ntentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as
such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in
hostilities'' and ``[i]ntentionally directing attacks against civilian
objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives'';
Whereas President Vladimir Putin, members of the Russian Security Council, and
President Putin's military commanders have severely undermined the
international rule of law through their various actions;
Whereas, prior to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, President Vladimir Putin and
the Russian Federation has a long history of committing acts of
aggression, human rights violations, and acts that constitute war crimes
within the Russian Federation and around the globe, including in
Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria;
Whereas, beginning in 1999, the Russian Federation engaged in the indiscriminate
use of force against the people of Chechnya, including the use of
cluster munitions against civilians, resulting in 50,000 Chechens,
mostly civilians, dead or missing;
Whereas, during the Russian Federation's invasion of Georgia in 2008, Russian
Armed Forces engaged with cluster munitions in indiscriminate and
disproportionate attacks that resulted in the death of civilians;
Whereas President Vladimir Putin violated the sovereignty of Ukraine and used
military force to seize control and unlawfully occupy Crimea and eastern
Ukraine, indiscriminately targeting and killing thousands of innocent
civilians since 2014;
Whereas the Russian military was deemed responsible for shooting down Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, which resulted
in the death of 298 civilians;
Whereas rebel forces supported by the Russian Federation were deemed responsible
for a missile attack on January 24, 2015, in Mariupol, Ukraine that
indiscriminately targeted civilians, resulting in the death of at least
30 and injuring many more;
Whereas, in 2016 and 2017, Russian aircraft deployed ``bunker-busting'' and
incendiary bombs capable of destroying military installations on
civilian structures in Aleppo, Syria, resulting in the death of hundreds
of civilians;
Whereas President Vladimir Putin is complicit in war crimes and human rights
violations in Syria through his continuing political, financial, and
military support for President Bashar al-Assad;
Whereas intelligence assessments have concluded Vladimir Putin and his regime
have destroyed the rule of law in Russia and engaged in countless crimes
against humanity, including ordering the poisoning of Alexi Navalny, the
poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and the false imprisonment and
torture ultimately leading to the death of Sergei Magnitsky;
Whereas President Vladimir Putin, in February 2022, initiated a premeditated,
unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful war against the sovereign nation
of Ukraine;
Whereas, in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin and Russian Federation
forces targeted and reportedly killed more than 300 civilians, to
include children, while engaging in Ukrainian urban centers, causing
chaos and fear among Ukrainian citizens;
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States,
Oksana Markarova, claimed President Vladimir Putin ordered the
deployment of thermobaric weapons and cluster munitions to be used in
the northeastern towns of Okhtyrka and Karkhiv;
Whereas Ukraine has twice submitted to the jurisdiction of the ICC for the
purposes of prosecuting war crimes committed within its territory due to
the Russian occupation of Ukraine;
Whereas Lithuania and Canada, members to the authorizing treaty of the ICC, have
called on the ICC to open an investigation into possible war crimes
committed by Russia;
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the Prosecutor of the ICC, Karim A. A. Khan QC
stated that the ICC would open a third investigation against Russia for
alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the
Russian invasion into Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022;
Whereas Ukraine has also filed a claim in the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation for
genocide; and
Whereas the United States Government should use its voice, vote, and influence
to pursue war crimes allegations against Vladimir Putin and his military
commanders in international institutions of which it is a member and
encourage other allies and partners to express the same: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) strongly condemns the ongoing violence, war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and systematic human rights abuses
continually being carried out by the Russian Armed Forces and
their proxies and President Putin's military commanders, at the
direction of President Vladimir Putin;
(2) encourages member states to petition the ICC and the
ICJ to authorize any and all pending investigations into war
crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian
Armed Forces and their proxies and President Putin's military
commanders, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin;
(3) supports any investigation into war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and systematic human rights abuses levied by
President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Security Council, the
Russian Armed Forces and their proxies, and President Putin's
military commanders;
(4) encourages the United States Government and partner
nations to use their voice, vote, and influence in
international institutions in which they are members to hold
President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Security Council, the
Russian Armed Forces and their proxies, and President Putin's
military commanders accountable for their sponsorship of
ongoing violence, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
systematic human rights abuses; and
(5) stands with the people who have been affected by the
brutality of the Putin regime.
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