WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening statement at this afternoon’s full Committee hearing: “Accountability for Russian Atrocities in Ukraine.” Testifying before the Committee was U.S. Department of State Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, The Honorable Beth Van Schaack.
“The State Department has encouraged working with the International Criminal Court to bring Putin to justice. It is no secret that Department of Defense is the holdup,” said Chairman Menendez. “Whatever they are thinking, a refusal to implement the law is unacceptable in this situation, blocking critical U.S. assistance for investigations into atrocities in Ukraine, and is dangerous to our system of government. The Defense Department does not get to pick and choose which laws it will obey. The United States needs to provide full support for investigations that could lead to holding Russian officials accountable…There must be, and will be, accountability for the crimes against the Ukrainian people.”
Find a copy of the Chairman’s remarks as delivered below.
“This Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing will come to order.
For well over a year now, we have seen the horror of Putin’s illegal, unprovoked invasion, and the brutality he has inflicted on the people of Ukraine.
Russian air strikes have destroyed schools, flattened apartment buildings, and killed mothers and babies in maternity wards.
We have witnessed deliberate strikes on bomb shelters, where children and their caregivers have gone for protection, attacks on civilian nuclear facilities, and a systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure.
It is a nightmare that does not let up.
According to international human rights organizations, Russian forces have occupied government buildings, village schools, and airport hangars—whatever they could find—and converted them into makeshift torture chambers where they beat, electrocute, and threaten to mutilate Ukrainian detainees.
They have kidnapped Ukrainian children, raped Ukrainian women and girls, executed Ukrainian men, and starved innocent Ukrainian civilians from Bucha to Kherson to Mariupol.
Make no mistake these acts are war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Mass atrocities that Putin and his underlings must be held responsible for.
Even as the war rages on in Ukraine, we must do everything we can to gather and preserve evidence on these atrocities to lay the groundwork for justice.
So Ambassador Van Schaack, I want to hear from you about what the U.S. government is doing to support these efforts.
I commend the State Department for early on in the war calling Russian atrocities what they are: war crimes.
And the Department’s determination earlier this year that these crimes amount to a widespread and systematic attack against Ukraine’s civilian population, in other words, that they are crimes against humanity, is laudable.
Now Ambassador, I commend you personally for your tireless effort and work shining a light on atrocities around the world to combat impunity, not only for Russian crimes, but also war crimes and crimes against humanity in countless other conflicts, from Burma, to Syria, to Ethiopia, to North Korea.
But it cannot just be you and colleagues at the Departments of State and Justice. Our entire government and the international community must always follow up with actions.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General has chronicled more than 88,000—88,000—alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity to date.
88,000 and that number continues to grow.
Thanks to the testimony of brave Ukrainians who have suffered unspeakable horrors and risked their lives so that we can know the truth, the world and this body are rallying to seek accountability.
Because not taking concrete actions to bring Putin and those responsible for these atrocities to justice would set a dangerous precedent.
Last year, on a bipartisan basis, Congress gave the Executive Branch important new authorities to provide information and other support to the International Criminal Court’s war crimes investigation.
And I commend the ICC for issuing arrest warrants for Putin and his so-called “Commissioner for Children’s Rights.”
But here in the United States, while we may be saying the right words and calling out these crimes, the Administration has not used the tools we have provided to help hold Putin accountable.
It is simply inexcusable.
It calls into question our resolve and commitment to justice.
There are real consequences to this inaction.
And the rest of the world is taking note.
Now, I know there are many who support assisting the ICC, including our witness today.
The State Department has encouraged working with the ICC to bring Putin to justice.
It is no secret that Department of Defense is the holdup.
I asked the Department of Defense to participate in today’s hearing so we could better understand why they are blocking implementation of federal law.
Whatever they are thinking, a refusal to implement the law is unacceptable in this situation, blocking critical U.S. assistance for investigations into atrocities in Ukraine, and is dangerous to our system of government.
The Defense Department does not get to pick and choose which laws it will obey.
Let me repeat that.
The Defense Department does not get to pick and choose which laws it will obey.
The United States needs to provide full support for investigations that could lead to holding Russian officials accountable.
As we continue to hear about Russian forces boiling peoples’ hands in water, systematically raping women while threatening their children, and killing innocent civilians in cold blood, we cannot sit and do nothing.
Much of the world has come together in impressive unity in response to this unjust war.
But we must make sure our efforts do not end with condemnation.
We must seek and deliver accountability.
So, Ambassador Van Schaack, I look forward to exploring with you what more can be done to ensure that Putin and others are brought to justice for their war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression, including by supporting the ICC.
We must show this is about more than words.
There must be, and will be, accountability for the crimes against the Ukrainian people.
With that let me turn to the distinguished Ranking Member Senator Risch for his comments.”
Remarks edited lightly for clarity.
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