Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, has introduced a resolution condemning Russian actions in Ukraine as a genocide under applicable international laws.
The resolution reads in part that “substantial and significant evidence documenting widespread, systematic actions against the Ukrainian people committed by Russian forces under the direction of Russian Federation political leadership meets one or more of the criteria under Article II of the Genocide Convention.”
It adds that, “the Russian Federation’s state-level intent in favor of these heinous crimes against humanity has been demonstrated through frequent pronouncements and other forms of official communication denying Ukrainian nationhood and sovereignty, including President Putin’s ahistorical claims that Ukraine is part of a ‘single whole’ Russian nation with ‘no historical basis’ for being an independent country.”
The resolution calls on the House of Representatives to condemn the Russian Federation for “committing acts of genocide” against the Ukrainian people; to call on the United States, in cooperation with North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union allies, to undertake measures “to support the Ukrainian Government to prevent further acts of Russian genocide” against the Ukrainian people; and to support “tribunals and international criminal investigations to hold Russian political leaders and military personnel to account for a war of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.”
Original source can be found here.
