Is genocide being committed in Ukraine?
These leaders think so 5:11
(CNN) --
One year after Russia's brutal and unprovoked war invasion of Ukraine, the United States says it has seen enough.
"In the case of Russia's actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards and there is no question: these are crimes against humanity," US Vice President Kamala Harris said at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year. weekend.
"To all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to your superiors who are complicit in those crimes, you will be held accountable," he added.
The statement marks the strongest accusation yet by the United States against Russia as it seeks to punish Moscow for its aggressive war.
What is the difference between genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity?
Ukrainian emergency workers work at a shell-damaged maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. (Credit: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/File)
The US government declared in March 2022 that members of the Russian military had committed war crimes in Ukraine.
President Joe Biden went so far as to say that atrocities committed by Moscow troops qualify as "genocide."
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While the “crimes against humanity” determination is significant, for now it remains largely symbolic.
It does not immediately trigger any specific consequences, nor does it give the United States the ability to prosecute Russians involved in the commission of crimes.
However, it could provide international bodies, such as the International Criminal Court, with evidence to effectively try to prosecute those crimes.
This is what you should know about how these types of crimes are prosecuted on the international stage.
What are crimes against humanity?
A crime against humanity is defined by the International Criminal Court as an act "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack."
This may include, among other things, murder, extermination, torture, enslavement, sexual violence, deportation or forced population transfer, or other inhumane acts.
“We reserve determinations of crimes against humanity for the most heinous crimes,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Saturday.
“These acts are not random or spontaneous;
They are part of the Kremlin's widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population of Ukraine."
What evidence did the US cite?
In her speech, Vice President Kamala Harris outlined specific instances that have peppered news clips and official reports.
“First, since the initial days of this unprovoked war, we have witnessed horrific atrocities and war crimes committed by Russian forces,” Harris said.
“Russian forces have carried out a widespread and systemic attack against the civilian population: horrific acts of murder, torture, rape and deportation.
Execution-style murders, beatings and electrocution,” he added.
“Russian authorities have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people from Ukraine to Russia, including children.
Children have been cruelly separated from their families,” Harris said.
Harris' speech cited evidence of indiscriminate Russian attacks deliberately targeting civilians, including the bombing of a maternity hospital that killed a pregnant mother and of a theater in Mariupol that killed hundreds of people.
New images of the interior of the Mariupol theater 0:54
The US vice president spoke of horrifying images of Bucha showing men and women shot and left rotting in the streets, as well as United Nations reports of a 4-year-old girl being sexually assaulted by a Russian soldier. .
As happened when the US government declared Russia committed war crimes last March, it remains to be seen whether there will be accountability and whether Russia's President Vladimir Putin himself will be forced to take any responsibility.
“We will continue to support the judicial process in Ukraine and the international investigations because justice must be done.
Let's all agree, on behalf of all the victims, known and unknown: justice must be done," Harris said.
What is the International Criminal Court?
The International Criminal Court is a court that operates independently.
It is located in The Hague, the Netherlands, and was created by a treaty called the Rome Statute and was first submitted to the United Nations.
Who falls under the jurisdiction of the court?
Most of the countries on Earth, 123 of them, are parties to the treaty, but there are very large and notable exceptions.
That is the key to this story, since neither Russia nor Ukraine, nor the United States, are part of the agreement.
More and more voices accuse Russia of "genocide"
They dig up hundreds of bodies in Bucha to identify them 3:47
So how can the ICC address these allegations?
The court judges people, not countries, and focuses on those who bear the greatest responsibility: leaders and officials.
Although Ukraine is not a member of the court, it previously accepted its jurisdiction.
In theory, the accused Russian officials could be prosecuted by the court.
However, the ICC does not conduct trials in absentia, so they would have to be turned over by Russia or arrested outside of Russia.
This seems unlikely.
So could it affect the conflict?
An ICC investigation could affect any diplomatic space for negotiations, as Putin and other accused perpetrators do not want to risk arrest if they travel outside the country.
It could also weaken Putin's popularity at home, as the Russians could lose faith in his leadership.
How long do these investigations take?
If justice in general moves slowly, international justice barely moves.
Investigations at the ICC have been going on for many years.
Only a handful of convictions have been won.
A preliminary investigation into the hostilities in eastern Ukraine lasted for more than six years, from April 2014 to December 2020. At the time, the prosecutor said there was evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The next steps were held back by the covid-19 pandemic and a lack of resources in the court, which is conducting multiple investigations.
What is Russia's response?
Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to the United States, presented the accusation of crimes against humanity as an attempt to "demonize" Russia, according to the state news agency TASS.
"We regard such innuendoes as an attempt, unprecedented in terms of cynicism, to demonize Russia," Antonov said this weekend.
war in ukraine