[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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