US will hold Russians accountable for war crimes in Ukraine, AG Merrick Garland says
Photo by Mitch Higgins/ABA Media Relations
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland called upon the American Bar Association to support victims of the Russian war on Ukraine at the ABA Annual Meeting in Denver on Monday.
Following Congress’ passage of the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act, legislation that was supported by the ABA, the Department of Justice now has the ability to prosecute foreign nationals accused of committing or ordering war crimes if they step foot on U.S. soil. Previously, U.S. authorities could only prosecute war crimes if the alleged perpetrator or victim were U.S. nationals. The law closes a loophole and aligns it with international law.
“War criminals will not find refuge in America,” Garland said to the House of Delegates.
The work is modeled on the Department of Justice’s decades-long project to prosecute and denaturalize Nazis. Eli Rosenbaum, who worked on that effort for nearly four decades, now serves as the head of the War Crimes Accountability Team under the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section of the DOJ and leads the team investigating Ukrainian war crimes.
“The Department of Justice and the American people have a long memory,” Garland said. “So do the Ukrainian people.”
Additionally, the United States joined forces this month with the Ukraine and the European Union to form the International Centre for the Prosecution for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. It will operate through Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, and the International Criminal Court, the world’s largest war crimes court, to investigate Russia’s crimes and help build cases for future trials. Jessica Kim will serve as U.S. Special Prosecutor for the Crime of Aggression, Garland said.
As the United States works to support Ukraine’s efforts to bring aggressors to justice, the Department of Justice has seized $500 million in assets from those who support the Russian regime, he said. This includes assets belonging to Russian oligarchs who evaded U.S. economic countermeasures.
Follow along with the ABA Journal’s coverage of the 2023 ABA Annual Meeting here.
This spring he authorized the first transfer of forfeited assets to the State Department to support the rebuilding of Ukraine. “Although this is our first asset transfer it won’t be the last.”
He asked ABA members to support a new Victim/Witness Coordination Center addressing the legal needs of displaced Ukrainians, and to create a strong network of pro bono attorneys ready to aid Ukrainian victims as they seek justice for “atrocities on the largest scale since World War II.”
“This has been the responsibility of every generation of Americans, and particularly every generation of American lawyers,” he added.
Garland also commended the ABA Rule of Law Initiative and Center for Human Rights for their support for Ukraine.
“I am hopeful that by working together the American Bar Association and the Department of Justice can help those who have been victimized by Russia’s ongoing criminal invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
Garland discussed his own family’s need to seek refuge in the United States before World War I, underscoring the importance to enforce the rule of law and seek justice.
“The families of victims of the current atrocities in the Ukraine deserve to know what happened to their loved ones,” he said. “They deserve justice.”
See also: Transcript of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s speech to the ABA House of Delegates
