The United States has officially established that Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, confirmed US Vice President Kamala Harris, who insists that the culprits will “face justice”.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Harris argued that the international community has a moral and strategic interest in not letting these crimes go unreported.
She recalled that other authoritarian regimes might want to take advantage of certain situations if international rules are not clearly defined and applied.
“Russian troops carried out a systematic, large-scale attack on a population, committing murder, torture, rape and deportation,” Harris noted. She also spoke of “execution-like methods for murder, beatings and electrocutions”.
“The Russian authorities have forced hundreds of thousands of people to relocate, both in Ukraine and in Russia, including children. They were cruel in separating children from their families, ”denounced the vice-president.
Last March, President Joe Biden’s administration officially determined that Russian forces had committed war crimes in Ukraine. She had indicated at that time that she intended to prosecute those responsible.
The fact of establishing that there have been crimes against humanity goes even further, since it implies that these acts are committed in a systematic way.
As a former prosecutor and head of the California Department of Justice, Ms. Harris said she knows full well that it is very important “to collect evidence and present it in court”.
“In the case of the acts committed by Russia in Ukraine, we have looked at the evidence and we know the legal requirements. There is no doubt: these are crimes against humanity, ”she dropped.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States “reserves crimes against humanity for the most barbaric acts”.
This new determination underscores the “staggering extent” of the suffering inflicted on Ukrainian civilians and “reflects the deep commitment of the United States to hold members of the Russian forces accountable for their atrocities”, according to Mr. Blinken.
Addressing security and defense officials around the world, Ms. Harris hammered home: “Let us all agree, on behalf of all victims, known and unknown, justice must be served. »
“No nation is safe in a world where a country can violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another country, where crimes against humanity are committed with impunity and where a country with imperialist ambitions can act out of control,” Ms. Harris added.
If Russian President Vladimir Putin manages to tackle international rules and norms without consequence, “other nations might want to follow suit”, she said.
There was no Russian official present on the floor when Ms Harris made her speech, as conference organizers decided not to invite them this year.