East Arapahoe News

WASHINGTON — On June 6, Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability and member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, led 22 bipartisan colleagues in a letter urging President Biden to share US intelligence on Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold Vladimir Putin and his enablers accountable for their atrocious crimes against humanity. Last Congress, Crow helped pass legislation that made it easier for the US government to share intelligence on Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the ICC.

The letter follows public reports that the administration may choose not to use this new authority with critical tools to bring Russian war criminals to justice due to Department of Defense (DOD) concerns.   

“Russian troops, at the direction of Putin, have systematically raped, tortured, executed, and kidnapped Ukrainians. It’s abominable, and every one of them should be held accountable. That’s why we came together to authorize our intelligence community to share evidence that will assist in bringing Putin’s war criminals to justice,” said Congressman Crow. “Our closest partners and allies have already shown support for the ICC's investigations of Russia’s crimes. It's time for the US to join them and send a clear message that we stand with those seeking justice and accountability and support Ukraine’s freedom.”

Last Congress, Crow led successful bipartisan efforts to pass the Intelligence Community Coordinator for Russian Atrocities Accountability Act in the FY23 Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA). Enacted in December 2022, the law requires the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to designate a senior official as the Intelligence Community coordinator for Russian atrocities accountability. It also unifies intelligence gathering efforts towards ICC investigations related to foreign suspects. 

This letter builds on Congressman Crow’s work to advocate for US aid to Ukraine, including visiting Ukraine last year, urging additional US military and humanitarian aid throughout the war, and more recently calling for the US to provide F-16 fighter jets to bolster Ukraine’s air defense capabilities.

A PDF of the letter can be found here, with text appearing below:

June 6, 2023

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 

The White House 

600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20500 

Dear President Biden, 

Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine has led to crimes against humanity and war crimes that the world must stand against. Russian troops have engaged in systematic rape, torture, mass executions, targeting of civilian infrastructure, and the kidnapping and attempted indoctrination of thousands of Ukrainian children. These crimes are no accident–they are a feature of Russia’s campaign of fear and terror against the Ukrainian people and those who support them.  

America’s moral authority is bound to our willingness to use our tools and information to stop these crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable. This is a watershed moment in history and the world is watching how we respond. This is precisely why Congress  overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation in December 2022  to allow tailored information sharing with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation of Russian crimes in Ukraine. The American people, through their elected representatives in Congress, expect the administration to use this new authority to assist the ICC’s investigations into Russia’s atrocious crimes. 

We were disappointed to learn through public reporting that the administration may choose to not use this new authority due to objections by the Department of Defense (DoD). We understand that DoD’s objections are based on historic concerns regarding our non-party status to the ICC and setting precedent to change our status. However, our bipartisan Congressional coalition already took these concerns into account and narrowly tailored the authority accordingly.  

To that end, we encourage additional action pursuant to the authorities enacted in the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, including Section 5948 (5)(c)(1) and (2) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (PublicLaw117-328) that further enable the United States to assist in efforts to hold Putin and his enablers accountable. U.S. support for ICC investigations into atrocities in Ukraine is even more critical following the March 17 news that the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin for his war crimes in Ukraine.  

Mr. President, during your State of the Union Address, you spoke about the importance of our support for Ukraine and stated that “in the battle between democracy and autocracy, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security.” We couldn’t agree more. The United States has often stood up for rule-of-law and defended the vulnerable. This is our moment to show, once again, that we are committed to those ideals through our concrete support of the international institutions pursuing justice and accountability. Indeed, at least 43 of our closest partners and allies have already shown support for the ICC’s investigation of Russian crimes in Ukraine.  

For these reasons, we respectfully request that you determine that it is in the US interest and in the interest of justice to provide further information to the ICC as it provides support for Ukrainian victims and accountability for perpetrators of atrocities. You have the overwhelming bipartisan and bicameral support of Congress. 

Thank you for your leadership and attention to this matter, and we look forward to your response. 

Sincerely,

Original source can be found here