US senators demand that Pentagon provide ICC with evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine

US senators are increasing pressure on the Pentagon to force the transfer of evidence of Russian crimes in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Voice of America.

Details: During a hearing in the US Senate, a number of lawmakers sharply criticised the actions of the Pentagon, which, according to them, "is not on the list of US departments" cooperating with the International Criminal Court.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin why the Department of Defense did not transfer evidence of Russian crimes to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan.

He recalled that given the importance of investigating and punishing war crimes, last year Congress legislatively allowed the United States to share critical evidence of war crimes and intelligence with the International Criminal Court. But despite this, the Pentagon did not transfer its data to the ICC.

In response, Austin said he fully agrees that President Putin needs to be held accountable for war crimes, but his priority is to protect the US military.

He added that Ukrainian and international investigations are important for bringing [war criminals] to justice. "I will always prioritise protecting U.S. military personnel and everything we do."

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed another meeting between lawmakers and Pentagon leadership to find out what is deterring the military from transmitting data on Russian war crimes to an international court.

Earlier, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon opposes providing the International Criminal Court with evidence of Russia's war crimes in Ukraine, collected by American intelligence agencies, because they fear creating a precedent for bringing Americans to justice in the future.

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