Remarks to the Helsinki Commission: “Holding Russia Accountable for War Crimes Against Ukraine: Lessons from Nuremberg”

As prepared for delivery

Thank you to the Helsinki Commission and the Nuremberg Academy for holding this event today. It’s a pleasure to be back in courtroom 600 with notable experts, civil society leaders, and government officials. I’ve appreciated hearing their perspectives on the prospects for justice in Ukraine.

Today, as we discuss the atrocities taking place as part of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and what more we can do collectively to ensure comprehensive, victim-centered justice for the people of Ukraine, I too am struck by the power of place. Many have already eloquently commented on where we sit today, so I will just offer this perspective: When generations past took on the immense challenge of investigating and prosecuting war criminals in these very rooms, they had limited past practice to draw upon, let alone the international law and institutions that make up our current international system. Today, we are fortunate to have stronger legal and institutional frameworks, as well as much improved documentation capacities and networks for collaboration that can be harnessed in the pursuit of justice. Our principal challenge now is not to chart an entirely new path—although I grant there are some areas where new or evolved solutions are needed to defend the UN Charter and deliver justice in the context of this terrible war. Rather, our task now is to best utilize the expertise, resources, and networks of national and international justice advocates to ensure that there will be comprehensive accountability for Russia’s brutal war of aggression and all the war crimes and crimes against humanity that Russia has unleashed on the people of Ukraine.

In March 2022, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken announced the U.S. government assessment that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. In February 2023, Vice President Harris announced the Secretary of State’s determination that members of Russia’s forces and other Russian officials have committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, including but not limited to rape and child deportations. The atrocities Russia’s forces and officials are committing as part of the Kremlin’s widespread and systematic attack against Ukraine’s civilian population are devastating, but our resolve to bring these atrocities to light and work toward justice remains as strong as ever.

To this end, the United States is dedicated to enabling and strengthening five pathways to justice for Ukraine, in coordination with Ukraine and other partners. We see these paths as complementary and mutually reinforcing.

The main engine of justice, of course, will be Ukraine’s justice system. I’m grateful for Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s participation in today’s event and his leadership. The United States is committed to assisting Ukraine’s institutions as they work to document, investigate, and prosecute war crimes. This includes our support to Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General through the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine (ACA), a joint US-UK-EU initiative providing coordinated, timely, multidisciplinary training, consultation, and strategic guidance. The United States also supports other key institutions in Ukraine, including the National Police of Ukraine, as well as civil society, to build capacity for atrocity crime investigation, ensure victim-centered justice, and provide long-term assistance to survivors.

The second pathway to justice runs through international institutions and investigations. The United States is supporting the ICC’s investigation into the situation in Ukraine as well as the work of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the Expert Missions established under the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism, and the Office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, which has contributed to efforts to document conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine.

The work of other international bodies, like the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of Russia in Ukraine hosted under the auspices of the Council of Europe, will also be critical to understanding the full impact of Russia’s war and eventually ensuring reparations and comprehensive justice for victims. The United States was proud to become a founding Associate Member of this body when it was established in May 2023.

The third pathway is aimed at supporting and coordinating investigations being carried out at the national level in Europe and beyond. One of the ways we have done this is by deepening our partnership with Eurojust. Almost immediately after Russia began its full-scale invasion, national prosecuting authorities turned to Eurojust to coordinate strategies and share information and evidence. I would like to commend some of my colleagues here today on their contributions to Eurojust-backed accountability efforts, including the Joint Investigation Team and the Core International Crimes Evidence Database. We are proud to contribute to both initiatives, which serve as catalysts for sharing the burden and building strong cases that can stand up in court when the time comes. Beyond our engagement with Eurojust, the United States is cooperating with different states on a bilateral level, as well as working with and supporting civil society organizations involved in documentation, case building, and strategic litigation.

The fourth pathway runs through courts in the United States. At the end of 2022, Congress passed, and President Biden signed into law, the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act, enhancing the ability of U.S. prosecutors to bring charges against perpetrators of war crimes in U.S. courts. And at the end of 2023, the Justice Department filed the first ever charges under the U.S. war crimes statute against four Russia-affiliated military personnel. The charges include torture, inhumane treatment, and unlawful confinement of a U.S. national in Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. We are hopeful that Congress will continue plugging gaps in the U.S. legal framework, including by enabling federal prosecutors to charge perpetrators with crimes against humanity when they commit crimes as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.

And fifth, we are participating in negotiations to develop a tribunal dedicated to prosecuting the crime of aggression against Ukraine. We remain actively engaged in the Core Group that has convened to develop a modality to prosecute this international crime. While those discussions continue, we are supporting investigatory work to advance the eventual prosecution of individuals responsible for Russia’s war of aggression. As many of you know, the United States—through the Department of Justice—appointed an experienced federal prosecutor, Jessica Kim, to serve as the United States’ Special Prosecutor for the Crime of Aggression and our representative to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine, or the ICPA. To build on this deployment, the Department of State is contributing $1 million to the ICPA, which will play a key role in investigations into Russia’s war of aggression, allowing for prosecutors from across legal systems to work together to secure and share key evidence and pursue robust and independent investigations.

These five pathways are complementary, and all relate to criminal accountability for those responsible for international crimes. That said, there is another complementary pillar I would like to discuss today. In our collective pursuit of comprehensive justice for the people of Ukraine, transitional justice efforts will be just as important as criminal accountability. We should be realistic about the fact that prosecutions will take years and that not all victims of atrocities will have their day in court. This is why we must work with Ukraine to ensure that all victims and survivors have access to other forms of justice, such as compensation, immediate and long-term support services including for survivors of gender-based violence, and truth-telling and memorialization initiatives. An inclusive approach to transitional justice and institutional reform will help ensure a secure future for Ukraine’s vibrant democracy.

These five pathways are the legacy of Nuremberg. Just as the Allies at the end of the Second World War advanced the imperative of justice and ushered in a new era of accountability for the worst imaginable crimes, it falls on all of us to ensure that the legacy of Nuremberg and the promise of the Nuremberg Principles are not merely history.

So far, the international community has stepped up. We have seen immense commitment from international and Ukrainian civil society, national legislatures, justice architects, and policymakers from around the world. At this critical moment in history, the United States is again playing a leadership role like it did during and after WWII. Timely and impactful legislation and funding from the U.S. Congress has been instrumental to U.S. efforts to support Ukraine and the pursuit of justice; continued robust support will be critical not just to defending Ukraine but to defending U.S. national security and justice priorities the world over.

As we meet in this historic courtroom, I am reminded that seeking justice is not fast or easy, but it is absolutely essential to deterrence, healing, and the instantiated of democracy. The United States remains as committed as ever to supporting justice for Ukraine.