[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 72 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 72
Recognizing Russian actions in Ukraine as a genocide.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 16, 2023
Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr.
Crapo, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Scott of Florida, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Capito, Mr.
Manchin, Mr. Barrasso, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Graham, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr.
Rubio, and Mr. Young) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing Russian actions in Ukraine as a genocide.
Whereas the Russian Federation's illegal, premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal
war against Ukraine includes extensive, systematic, and flagrant
atrocities against the people of Ukraine;
Whereas article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide (in this preamble referred to as the ``Genocide
Convention''), adopted and opened for signature in 1948 and entered into
force in 1951, defines genocide as ``any of the following acts committed
with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,
racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c)
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing
measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly
transferring children of the group to another group'';
Whereas, on October 3, 2018, the Senate unanimously agreed to Senate Resolution
435, 115th Congress, which commemorated the 85th anniversary of the
Holodomor and ``recognize[d] the findings of the Commission on the
Ukraine Famine as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988, including
that `Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against the
Ukrainians in 1932-1933''';
Whereas substantial and significant evidence documents widespread, systematic
actions against the Ukrainian people committed by Russian forces under
the direction of political leadership of the Russian Federation that
meet one or more of the criteria under article II of the Genocide
Convention, including--
(1) killing members of the Ukrainian people in mass atrocities through
deliberate and regularized murders of fleeing civilians and civilians in
passing as well as purposeful targeting of homes, schools, hospitals,
shelters, and other residential and civilian areas;
(2) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the Ukrainian
people by launching indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian
areas, conducting willful strikes on humanitarian evacuation corridors, and
employing widespread and systematic sexual violence against Ukrainian
civilians, including women, children, and men;
(3) deliberately inflicting upon the Ukrainian people conditions of
life calculated to bring about their physical destruction in whole or in
part, including displacement due to annihilated villages, towns, and cities
left devoid of food, water, shelter, electricity, and other basic
necessities, starvation caused by the destruction of farmlands and
agricultural equipment, the placing of Russian landmines across thousands
of acres of useable fields, and blocking the delivery of humanitarian food
aid;
(4) imposing measures intended to prevent births among the Ukrainian
people, demonstrated by the Russian military's expansive and direct
targeting of maternity hospitals and other medical facilities and
systematic attacks against residential and civilian areas as well as
humanitarian corridors intended to deprive Ukrainians of safe havens within
their own country and the material conditions conducive to childrearing;
and
(5) forcibly mass transferring millions of Ukrainian civilians,
hundreds of thousands of whom are children, to the Russian Federation or
territories controlled by the Russian Federation;
Whereas the intent of the Russian Federation and those acting on its behalf in
favor of those heinous crimes against humanity has been demonstrated
through frequent pronouncements and other forms of official
communication denying Ukrainian nationhood, including President Putin's
ahistorical claims that Ukraine is part of a ``single whole'' Russian
nation with ``no historical basis'' for being an independent country;
Whereas some Russian soldiers and brigades accused of committing war crimes in
Bucha, Ukraine, and elsewhere were rewarded with medals by President
Putin;
Whereas the Russian state-owned media outlet RIA Novosti published the article
``What Should Russia do with Ukraine'', which outlines ``de-
Nazification'' as meaning ``de-Ukrainianization'' or the destruction of
Ukraine and rejection of the ``ethnic component'' of Ukraine;
Whereas article I of the Genocide Convention confirms ``that genocide, whether
committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under
international law which [the Contracting Parties] undertake to prevent
and to punish'';
Whereas although additional documentation and analysis of atrocities committed
by the Russian Federation in Ukraine may be needed to punish those
responsible, the substantial and significant documentation already
undertaken, combined with statements showing intent, compel urgent
action to prevent future acts of genocide; and
Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et
seq.) authorizes the President to impose economic sanctions on, and deny
entry into the United States to, foreign individuals identified as
engaging in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns those acting on behalf of the Russian
Federation for committing acts of genocide against the
Ukrainian people;
(2) calls on the United States, in cooperation with allies
in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European
Union, to undertake measures to support the Government of
Ukraine to prevent acts of Russian genocide against the
Ukrainian people;
(3) supports tribunals and international criminal
investigations to hold Russian political leaders and military
personnel to account for a war of aggression, war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and genocide; and
(4) urges the President to use the authorities under the
Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C.
10101 et seq.) to impose economic sanctions on those
responsible for, or complicit in, genocide in Ukraine by the
Russian Federation and those acting on its behalf.
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