As declared by Vice President Kamala Harris, the US ruled that Russia is committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine. It's the latest salvo in the West's campaign to hold Moscow accountable for its wartime atrocities.
Harris addressed Russia's "widespread and systematic attack" on Ukraine's civilian population in a keynote talk at the Munich Security Conference, claiming evidence of execution-style killings, rape, torture, and forcible deportations – sometimes against children. As a result, Russia has committed not only war crimes, as the administration publicly found in March, but also unlawful activities against noncombatants.
"Their actions are an assault on our common values, an attack on our common humanity," the vice president added, referring to photos of dead laying in Bucha's streets and a Russian soldier sexually assaulting a four-year-old child. "Inhumane and barbaric."
Harris stated that the Biden administration will continue to support Ukraine in its investigation into these alleged crimes, and that the guilty and "their superiors" will be "held accountable." "Let us all agree: on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown: justice must be served," she continued.
The proclamation is one of the most powerful ever issued by a Western country, as partners debate how to penalize Russians accountable for crimes. And it intensifies America's legal backing for Ukraine, which has long claimed that Russia was responsible for these murders and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ultimately responsible.
Although Harris did not name Putin, the apparent message is that the invasion he ordered over a year ago is the reason Ukrainian people are now victims of these international law crimes.
Notwithstanding the fact that "crimes against humanity" are not legally codified in an international convention, they are nonetheless adjudicated at the International Criminal Court and other global bodies. According to the Biden administration, Russian acts reached a higher bar than war crimes, but not a more precise violation like genocide.
Unlike genocide, crimes against humanity do not need to target a specific group, according to the UN. Instead, the victim of the attack may be any civilian population, regardless of allegiance or identification. Another significant distinction is that in the case of crimes against humanity, no proof of general specific intent is required.
Some, though, want the Biden administration to go much further. Meanwhile in the US, both West Virginia senators, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito, presented legislation to declare Russia's attack on Ukraine a genocide.
Others, such as Tom Malinowski, a former member of Congress and senior State Department human rights officer, argue that debates over what to characterize Russia's atrocities are less essential than equipping Ukraine with the ability to stop them.
"But yes, there’s no question that Russia is committing crimes against humanity and we’re right to say so," he continued.
Just after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed by video a conference of officials and specialists in Kyiv, Ukraine's presidential office head, Andriy Yermak, warned his country would not feel safe until Russia's leadership was punished.
The fastest and easiest approach to build the security of Ukraine and the whole world is to form a special tribunal to trial the Russian leadership for the crime of aggression. "Europe and the entire civilized world understand why it is necessary," he remarked at the opening of the "Ukraine is You" exhibition.
Amnesty International stated in November that Russia was "likely" committing crimes against humanity, citing examples of individuals being forcibly transferred and deported from Ukraine.