Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States condemns the Russian Government's gross violations of international law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and supports the efforts of international organizations to help people displaced by war and conflict.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution expresses that the House of Representatives

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 964 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 964

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
     States condemns the Russian Government's gross violations of 
international law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, 
   stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and supports the 
efforts of international organizations to help people displaced by war 
                             and conflict.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 7, 2022

Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Carolyn B. 
     Maloney of New York, and Mr. Kahele) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
     States condemns the Russian Government's gross violations of 
international law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, 
   stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and supports the 
efforts of international organizations to help people displaced by war 
                             and conflict.

Whereas the Government of Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, has engaged in a 
        military invasion of Ukraine and gross violations of international law 
        amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity;
Whereas the law of armed conflict, also known as international humanitarian law, 
        are a set of international rules regulating the conduct of armed 
        conflict;
Whereas the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols are the core of 
        international humanitarian law, and many rules contained in these 
        treaties are considered customary international law, binding on all 
        states, whether or not they have ratified the treaties;
Whereas Russia's military invasion of Ukraine constitutes an international armed 
        conflict governed by international humanitarian law as well as customary 
        international humanitarian law;
Whereas Article 51(2) of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, 
        prohibits the targeting of civilians, as well as ``acts or threats of 
        violence, the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the 
        civilian population'';
Whereas Article 76 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, states 
        that women ``shall be protected in particular against rape, forced 
        prostitution, and any other form of indecent assault'';
Whereas Article 77 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions expresses 
        that ``children shall be the object of special respect and shall be 
        protected against any form of indecent assault'';
Whereas, on June 19, 2008, the United Nations Security Council adopted 
        Resolution 1820, noting that ``rape and other forms of sexual violence 
        can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive 
        act with respect to genocide'', and calls for ``prosecuting persons 
        responsible for such acts'';
Whereas Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 
        defines ``crimes against humanity'' as acts such as murder, 
        extermination, rape, persecution, and all other inhumane acts of a 
        similar character intentionally causing great suffering, which are 
        committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against 
        any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian airstrike hit Kyiv's main television tower, 
        damaging broadcasting infrastructure, killing at least 5 people, and 
        injuring others;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian airstrike targeted Freedom Square in 
        Kharkiv, as cars were stopped at a traffic light on their morning 
        commute;
Whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized Russia's airstrike 
        on Freedom Square as a ``war crime'';
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Secretary 
        of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia for killing civilians, striking 
        ``schools, hospitals and residential buildings'' in Ukraine;
Whereas United States ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield 
        expressed to the United Nations on March 2, 2022, that videos show 
        Russian forces moving lethal weaponry into Ukraine, including cluster 
        munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the Geneva 
        Conventions;
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs accused Russian 
        soldiers of raping women in Ukrainian cities;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, Secretary of State Blinken stated that the United 
        States has seen credible reports of Russia engaging in ``deliberate 
        attacks on civilians, which would constitute a war crime'';
Whereas Article 18 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, states that ``civilian 
        hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and 
        maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but 
        shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the 
        conflict'';
Whereas Article 12 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions provides 
        that ``medical units shall be respected and protected at all times and 
        shall not be the object of attack'';
Whereas, on March 2, 2022, Ukraine's foreign ministry reported that a Russian 
        missile strike destroyed the Pavlusenko maternity hospital;
Whereas, on March 5, 2022, the World Health Organization confirmed several 
        attacks on health care centers in Ukraine, causing multiple deaths and 
        injuries;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, the Director-General of the World Health Organization 
        expressed that ``attacks on healthcare facilities or workers breach 
        medical neutrality and are violations of international humanitarian 
        law'';
Whereas Article 53 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, prohibits 
        committing any ``acts of hostility directed against the historic 
        monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the 
        cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples'';
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of 
        Ukraine, announced that a missile hit the location of the Babyn Yar 
        Holocaust Memorial complex, a place where thousands of Jewish people 
        were killed between 1941 and 1943;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian missile hit Freedom Square in the center of 
        Kharkiv, Ukraine, causing severe damage to an opera house, concert hall, 
        and government offices;
Whereas Article 15 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, 
        establishes that installations containing dangerous forces, including 
        nuclear electrical generating stations, ``shall not be made the object 
        of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such 
        attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe 
        losses among the civilian population'';
Whereas, on March 3, 2022, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy accused Russian forces 
        of ``nuclear terror'' because ``Russian tanks are shooting at the 
        nuclear blocks'' in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe's 
        largest nuclear power station;
Whereas, on March 3, 2022, the United States embassy in Ukraine called the 
        Russian attack on the Ukrainian nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia a ``war 
        crime'';
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, President Zelenskyy expressed to the European 
        Parliament, ``we are fighting for our rights, for our freedoms, for 
        life, for our life, and now we are fighting for survival'';
Whereas, on March 2, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly 
        voted to condemn Russia for its military invasion of Ukraine and 
        demanded that the Russian Federation immediately, completely, and 
        unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of 
        Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders;
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a 
        resolution establishing an independent international commission of 
        inquiry to investigate any violations of human rights resulting from the 
        Russian Federation's military invasion of Ukraine;
Whereas, on February 25, 2022, the Russian Federation threatened Sweden and 
        Finland with military and political repercussions if they join the North 
        Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance committed to the 
        collective defense of members against attacks;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
        stated that 1,500,000 refugees have fled Ukraine, making this the 
        fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II;
Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is helping to coordinate 
        Ukraine's requests for assistance and is supporting Allies in the 
        delivery of humanitarian and nonlethal aid;
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the United Nations World Food Programme launched 
        an emergency operation to provide food assistance for people fleeing 
        Ukraine to neighboring countries;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
        (UNHCR) spokesperson, Shabia Mantoo, announced that the UNHCR is 
        coordinating the refugee response with other United Nations agencies and 
        nongovernmental organization partners, in support of national 
        authorities helping people fleeing Ukraine;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, the United Nations and humanitarian partners launched 
        coordinated emergency appeals for a combined $1,700,000,000 to urgently 
        deliver humanitarian support to people in Ukraine and refugees in 
        neighboring countries;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, Secretary of State Blinken stated that energy 
        independence and energy security is ``critical to maintaining one's 
        sovereignty and independence''; and
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, international law experts, including an American 
        lawyer who served as a prosecutor during the Nuremberg trials, Benjamin 
        Ferencz, called for the creation of a Special Tribunal for the 
        Punishment of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, similar to the 
        International Military Tribunal set up by the Nuremberg Charter in 1945: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) forcefully condemns the continued use of unlawful and 
        indiscriminate violence against civilian populations by the 
        Government of Russia, its allies, and any other parties to the 
        conflict;
            (2) urges that the global community hold Vladimir Putin and 
        the Russian Government accountable for war crimes committed 
        during the military invasion of Ukraine;
            (3) urges the United States and its allies to continue 
        providing defense security assistance and humanitarian aid to 
        Ukraine as Ukrainians valiantly defend themselves against 
        Russia's military invasion;
            (4) supports the continued use of sanctions against Russia 
        and its allies until Russia ends its military invasion and 
        unequivocally recognizes Ukraine's internationally recognized 
        borders and political independence;
            (5) urges the United States to increase support for 
        international organizations, such as the United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Refugees, helping Ukrainians fleeing conflict 
        and more than 82,000,000 people around the world forcibly 
        displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human 
        rights violations;
            (6) urges the United States to treat all forcibly displaced 
        people with dignity and abide by the Protocol Related to the 
        Status of Refugees, ratified by the Senate in 1968, and 
        thereafter considered the ``supreme Law of the Land'' under 
        article VI, section 2 of the Constitution;
            (7) urges the United States and members of the North 
        Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to meet NATO's funding 
        needs to ensure the ability to provide collective defense and 
        innovation;
            (8) urges NATO to maintain its commitment to innovating and 
        work toward solving and dealing with emerging and disruptive 
        technologies; and
            (9) stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are 
        fighting for their freedom and democracy, Slava Ukraini, glory 
        to Ukraine.
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