[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 39 (Thursday, March 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S994-S995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                              S. Res. 531

       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 
     ``wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including 
     biological experiments, wilfully 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

[[Page S995]]

     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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