[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 158 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 158

  Condemning the deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian 
Federation and the forcible transfer of children within territories of 
        Ukraine that are temporarily occupied by Russian forces.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 17, 2023

Mr. Peters (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Grassley, Mr. 
Barrasso, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Shaheen, and Mr. Scott of Florida) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning the deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian 
Federation and the forcible transfer of children within territories of 
        Ukraine that are temporarily occupied by Russian forces.

Whereas, on January 12, 1951, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of 
        the Crime of Genocide (commonly known as the ``Genocide Convention''), 
        of which the Russian Federation is a signatory, came into effect;
Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an illegal and 
        unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas, on March 22, 2022, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that the 
        Russian military had forcefully and illegally kidnapped 2,389 Ukrainian 
        children from temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine;
Whereas forcibly transferring children of one group to another group is a 
        violation of Article II(e) of the Convention on the Prevention and 
        Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted and opened for signature in 
        1948 and entered into force in 1951 (commonly known as the ``Genocide 
        Convention'');
Whereas the unlawful deportation or transfer of people constitutes a breach of 
        Article 147 of the Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of 
        Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 
        (commonly referred to as the ``Fourth Geneva Convention'');
Whereas, Maria Lvova-Belova, Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of 
        Russia, admitted to kidnapping Ukrainian children and facilitating 
        forced adoptions to Russian families;
Whereas Ukrainian authorities have stated that a number of the kidnapped 
        Ukrainian children have families who remain in Ukraine, but have been 
        separated due to the Russian invasion;
Whereas, on May 30, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir 
        Putin, signed a decree simplifying the procedure of obtaining Russian 
        citizenship for Ukrainian orphans and children without parental care, 
        thereby expediting the process of illegal adoption of deported Ukrainian 
        children by Russian families;
Whereas, on June 2, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that 
        200,000 children are among the Ukrainians who have been forcefully 
        resettled in Russia;
Whereas, on June 16, 2022, Russian authorities announced that children born in 
        occupied Ukrainian territories after the February 24, 2022, invasion 
        will be deemed Russian citizens;
Whereas, on July 11, 2022, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres 
        ordered an investigation into the deaths and injuries of Ukrainian 
        children;
Whereas, on July 13, 2022, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken issued a 
        statement calling upon Russia to ``immediately halt its systemic 
        filtration operations in Ukraine'', which have caused the disappearance, 
        detention, or forcible deportation of between 900,000 and 1,600,000 
        Ukrainians (approximately 260,000 of whom are children);
Whereas, on December 5, 2022, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human 
        Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, announced that at least 2,800,000 Ukrainians 
        have been deported to Russia;
Whereas, on March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued warrants of 
        arrest, relating to the war crimes described in subsections (a)(vii) and 
        (b)(viii) of section 2 of article 8 of the Rome Statute of the 
        International Criminal Court, for--

    (1) Vladimir Putin, for--

    G    (A) the unlawful deportation of population (children); and

    G    (B) the unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied 
areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation; and

    (2) Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights 
in Russia, for--

    G    (A) the unlawful deportation of population (children); and

    G    (B) the unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied 
areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation; and

Whereas, as of March 27, 2023, the official platform ``Children of War'', which 
        was created by the Ministry of Reintegration and the National 
        Information Bureau on behalf of the Office of the President of Ukraine 
        reported that--

    (1) at least 465 Ukrainian children have been killed and 942 Ukrainian 
children have been wounded since Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine 
began; and

    (2) there has been 16,207 verified cases of Ukrainian children being 
deported to Russia out of a possible 744,000 cases: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) holds the Government of the Russian Federation, under 
        the leadership of Vladimir Putin, responsible for the wrongful 
        and illegal kidnapping of children from Ukraine and officially 
        condemns these actions in the strongest terms;
            (2) declares that the facilitation of illegal adoptions is 
        contrary to Russia's obligations under the Genocide Convention 
        and amounts to genocide;
            (3) claims that the Russian Federation is attempting to 
        wipe out a generation of Ukrainian children, thereby crippling 
        Ukraine's ability to nurture the next generation of Ukrainian 
        citizens and leaders and to rebuild their country after 
        Russia's unprovoked war, with the purpose of demolishing 
        Ukraine's unique language, culture, history, and identity; and
            (4) asserts that the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian 
        Federation has significantly increased the risks of children 
        being exposed to human trafficking and exploitation, child 
        labor, gender-based violence, hunger, injury, trauma, 
        deprivation of education and shelter, and death.
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