United States President Joe Biden has ordered the American government to share evidence that it possesses about Russia's war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
A US official familiar with the matter revealed the Democratic president's orders on Wednesday, allegedly made in recent days, overriding months of resistance by the Pentagon.
US To Share Evidence of Russian War Crimes in Ukraine
The decision also comes as previously, Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has "clearly committed war crimes." It also comes as the U.S. is not a member of the ICC, and the Defense Department previously worked to block efforts to share evidence of war crimes in Ukraine.
The Pentagon had shared concerns that by choosing to work with the international court, the US could open the door to prosecuting US troops deployed abroad. On the other hand, the ICC, which has its headquarters in The Hague, has been investigating allegations of US forces and the CIA committing war crimes in Afghanistan, as per NBC News.
On Wednesday, a White House National Security Council spokesperson said that the US supports a "range of international investigations" to hold perpetrators responsible. These include the ICC, the Office of the Ukraine Prosecutor General, and the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission.
The spokesperson added that regarding the ICC, the US government would not discuss the specifics of any cooperation. But they noted that it was consistent with the court's practice of treating requests for cooperation confidentially.
Additionally, they said they will continue working with the Ukrainian government and other countries to expose the war crimes and atrocities that the Russian military and its officials are committing so that the world can see.
The Biden administration's officials have obtained evidence of alleged war crimes throughout the war between Russia and Ukraine. According to CNN, these were acquired through intelligence-gathering mechanisms, among other channels.
Tense Relations
Despite the revelation, it is still unclear why United States President Joe Biden let the impasse on the matter linger or what led him to share evidence. The situation comes as the Democrat faces mounting bipartisan pressure to act quickly.
For example, last week, a Senate committee approved a government funding bill that included a provision that noted that the president "shall provide information" to the court to assist with its investigations into war crimes in Ukraine.
The evidence allegedly includes information that details decisions by Russian officials to strike civilian infrastructure in Ukraine deliberately. They also include allegations that they forcibly deported thousands of Ukrainian children from occupied territory.
The ICC was created by a treaty in 1998 that seeks to investigate war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. This means that the administrations of both parties have viewed it with wariness and sometimes hostility. However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 helped ease tense relations, said the New York Times.
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