[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 531 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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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