Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued his opposition to providing evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court due to concerns of “reciprocity” against U.S. troops in the future.
While other Biden administration leaders support the sharing of this intelligence, Austin expressed his “concerns about reciprocity going forward,” and told a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Thursday that he will “always prioritize the protection of U.S. military personnel in anything we do.”
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ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan has told U.S. lawmakers that the U.S. has valuable information that “could accelerate his prosecution of not only [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but of others,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said during the hearing to Austin.
The secretary repeatedly said that the department “firmly supports” the goal of holding Russian officials accountable for the war in Ukraine, though that doesn’t mean providing them with intelligence.
Late last year, Congress modified longstanding policies on Americans aiding the ICC, specifically with the intent of helping prosecute war crimes.
Austin told lawmakers on Thursday he’s “aware of the legislation,” and saw “no deficiencies in” it, even though he doesn’t believe the Pentagon should provide evidence to the ICC.
“DOD opposed the legislative change — it passed overwhelmingly — and they are now trying to undermine the letter and spirit of the law,” Graham told the New York Times in March. “It seems to me that DOD is the problem child here, and the sooner we can get the information into the hands of the ICC, the better off the world will be.”
Graham is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers that have pushed for the department to comply, and he recommended a meeting with Austin to further discuss the issue.
The ICC announced an arrest warrant for Putin in mid-March, accusing him of being responsible for the thousands of children that have been forcibly deported to Russia where they’ve undergone political reeducation training. They also issued an arrest warrant for Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for children’s rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, whom they said also shared responsibility for the deportations.
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The Kremlin quickly denounced the warrant and dismissed it.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, told a House committee last month that the Russian military has allegedly committed more than 80,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression.
