[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 227 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 227
Calling on the President to support the creation of an international
special tribunal to prosecute Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 31 (legislative day, May 30), 2023
Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. Kaine) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling on the President to support the creation of an international
special tribunal to prosecute Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Whereas, on February 24, 2022, Russia unleashed a full-scale invasion of Ukraine
in contravention of international law and the Charter of the United
Nations;
Whereas the Russian Armed Forces committed mass atrocities in Bucha, Irpin,
Kherson, Izyum, Mariupol, Dnipro, and Ukrainian towns occupied by the
Russian Federation, including rape, summary execution, and unlawful
violence and threats against civilians;
Whereas the Russian Armed Forces deliberately choose to target civilian
infrastructure to terrorize Ukrainian citizens;
Whereas, on September 21, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated to
the United Nations General Assembly that an aggression tribunal must be
established as a ``signal to all `would-be' aggressors, that they must
value peace or be brought to responsibility by the world'';
Whereas, on January 19, 2023, the European Parliament, by a vote of 472 to 19,
called for the establishment of ``a special international criminal
tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine'' in order to
``send a very clear signal to both Russian society and the international
community that Putin and the Russian political and military leadership
can be convicted for the crime of aggression in Ukraine'';
Whereas, on March 27, 2023, the United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global
Criminal Justice, Dr. Beth Van Schaack, stated, ``There is no question
that Russia's aggression against Ukraine is a manifest violation of the
UN Charter.'';
Whereas Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations states, ``All Members
shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of
force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any
state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the
United Nations.'';
Whereas United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX), adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly on December 14, 1974, defines aggression
as ``the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty,
territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in
any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations, as
set out in this Definition'';
Whereas Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as
amended by Resolution RC/Res. 6, adopted by the Review Conference at the
13th plenary meeting on June 11, 2010, states, in part: ``For the
purpose of this Statute, `crime of aggression' means the planning,
preparation, initiation or execution, by a person in a position
effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or
military action of a State, of an act of aggression which, by its
character, gravity and scale, constitutes a manifest violation of the
Charter of the United Nations.'';
Whereas, on March 17, 2023, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal
Court issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Russian
Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for their
responsibility in the war crimes of unlawful deportation and transfer of
children, and the International Criminal Court continues to investigate
other international crimes within its jurisdiction that have been
committed in Ukraine;
Whereas the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and genocide in Ukraine, but it does not have
jurisdiction over crimes of aggression in Ukraine because neither
Ukraine nor the Russian Federation have ratified the Rome Statute and
its amendments related to the crime of aggression;
Whereas the Russian Federation has committed manifest aggression against the
Ukrainian State for which its leadership must be held accountable;
Whereas the international community must hold those responsible for these
atrocities to account for their actions, including Russian President
Putin and all of the Members of the Security Council of Russia; and
Whereas an international special tribunal must be based on the adoption of a
United Nations General Assembly Resolution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns, in the strongest terms, the Russian
Federation's full-scale war and aggression against Ukraine;
(2) regards the Russian Federation's aggression in Ukraine
as an affront to humanity and in contravention of international
law;
(3) calls on the United States to use its voice and vote in
international institutions to support the creation of a special
international criminal tribunal to hold accountable the leaders
of the Russian Federation who led and sanctioned aggression in
Ukraine;
(4) states its expectation that such a tribunal will be
formed pursuant to a United Nations General Assembly resolution
put forward by friends of Ukraine that would--
(A) direct the Secretary General of the United
Nations to negotiate with Ukraine the terms of the
tribunal's scope; and
(B) ensure that the role of the United Nations--
(i) would be complementary to the
jurisdiction of the International Criminal
Court; and
(ii) would not limit or affect the
jurisdiction of the International Criminal
Court, including its exercise of jurisdiction
over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
possible genocide committed in the context of
Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine;
and
(5) stands with people of Ukraine in support of their
freedom and Ukraine's sovereignty against tyranny.
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