US determines Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine
| Munich
The United States has determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday, insisting that 鈥渏ustice must be served鈥� to the perpetrators.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Ms. Harris said the international community has both a moral and a strategic interest in pursuing those crimes, pointing to a danger of other authoritarian governments taking advantage聽.
鈥淩ussian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population 鈥� gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape, and deportation,鈥� Ms. Harris said. She also cited 鈥渆xecution-style killings, beatings, and electrocution.鈥�
The Biden administration formally determined last March that Russian troops had聽聽in Ukraine and said it would work with others to prosecute offenders. A determination of crimes against humanity goes a step further, indicating that attacks against civilians are being carried out in a widespread and systematic manner.
鈥淩ussian authorities have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people, from Ukraine to Russia, including children,鈥� Ms. Harris said. 鈥淭hey have cruelly separated children from their families.鈥�
She also pointed to聽聽in the strategic port city of Mariupol where civilians had been sheltering, which killed hundreds, and to the images of civilians鈥� bodies left on聽聽after the Russian pullback from the Kyiv area last spring.
Ms. Harris said that, as a former prosecutor and former head of California鈥檚 Department of Justice, she knows 鈥渢he importance of gathering facts and holding them up against the law.鈥�
鈥淚n the case of Russia鈥檚 actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hese are crimes against humanity.鈥�
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also was attending the Munich conference, said in a statement issued as Harris spoke that 鈥渨e reserve crimes against humanity determinations for the most egregious crimes.鈥�
The new determination underlines the 鈥渟taggering extent鈥� of suffering inflicted on Ukrainian civilians and 鈥渁lso reflects the deep commitment of the United States to holding members of Russia鈥檚 forces and other Russian officials accountable for their atrocities,鈥� he said.
Russia鈥檚 nearly聽, has dominated discussions at the Munich conference, an annual gathering of security and defense officials from around the world. Ms. Harris told the assembled participants: 鈥淟et us all agree 鈥� on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown, justice must be served.鈥�
鈥淪uch is our moral interest,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e also have a significant strategic interest.鈥�
鈥淣o nation is safe in a world where one country can violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another, where crimes against humanity are committed with impunity, where a country with imperialist ambitions can go unchecked,鈥� Ms. Harris added.
If Russian President Vladimir Putin succeeds in attacking international rules and norms, 鈥渙ther nations could feel emboldened to follow his violent example,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ther authoritarian powers could seek to bend the world to their will, through coercion, disinformation, and even brute force.鈥�
Ms. Harris鈥� audience Saturday didn鈥檛 include any Russian officials. Conference organizers decided not to invite them this year.
Amid the Western officials defending聽, China鈥檚 top diplomat, Wang Yi, stood out by calling for an end to the war through peace talks, saying Beijing was 鈥渄eeply worried about the expansion and long-term effect of this war.鈥�
China has refused to condemn Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine or to impose sanctions on Moscow like Western nations have done. Without naming any countries, Mr. Wang said 鈥渢here may be forces鈥� that don鈥檛 want the war to stop anytime soon.
鈥淲hat they care about is not the life and death of the Ukrainian people, nor the increasing damage to Europe. They probably have bigger strategic goals than Ukraine,鈥� he said.
Mr. Wang said Beijing planned to present a 鈥減osition paper on the political settlement of the Ukraine issue鈥� that would reiterate proposals made by President Xi Jinping.
Asked on the sidelines of the event about the U.S. determination of crimes against humanity, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba replied that 鈥淩ussia waged a genocidal war聽聽because they do not recognize our identity and they do not think we deserve to exist as a sovereign nation.鈥�
鈥淓verything that stems from that is crimes against humanity, war crimes, and various other atrocities committed by the Russian army in the territory of Ukraine,鈥� he said. 鈥淟et lawyers sort out specifically which act belongs where in terms of legal qualification.鈥�
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Western allies in a video address to the Munich conference on Friday to聽聽for Ukraine, declaring that 鈥渋t鈥檚 speed that life depends on.鈥�
Mr. Kuleba voiced confidence that Ukraine would eventually receive fighter jets from its partners, despite their current reluctance. He noted that they initially pushed back on providing other heavy weapons that were later delivered or promised, 鈥渟o the only outstanding type of weapon is planes.鈥�
In Munich on Friday, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, called for cluster munitions and phosphorous bombs, German media reported. Cluster munitions are banned by an international treaty.
Asked whether he supported calling for such weapons, Mr. Kuleba said Ukraine has evidence that Russia uses them.
鈥淲e are not party to the convention on the prohibition of cluster ammunition, so legally there are no obstacles for that,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd if we receive one, we will be using it exclusively against military forces of the Russian Federation.鈥�
This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin.
