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A year into Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the US 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 doubt: These are crimes against humanity,” Vice President Kamala Harris said at the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
“To all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors who are complicit in those crimes, you will be held to account.”
The declaration marks the strongest accusation yet from the US as it seeks to punish Moscow for its war of aggression.
The US government declared last March that members of the Russian armed forces had committed war crimes in Ukraine. President Joe Biden has gone as far as saying that atrocities at the hands of Moscow’s troops qualify as “genocide.”
While the “crimes against humanity” determination is significant, it remains largely symbolic for now. It does not immediately trigger any specific consequences, nor does it give the US the ability to prosecute Russians involved with perpetrating crimes.
However, it could provide international bodies, such as the International Criminal Court, with evidence to effectively try to prosecute those crimes.
Here’s what you need to know about how these kinds of crimes are prosecuted on the international stage.
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 can include, among other things, murder, extermination, torture, enslavement, sexual violence, deportation or forcible transfer of…
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