Saturday April 16, 2022
Rep. Ilhan Omar said it would be hypocritical for the US to
support a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court without
moving to become a member.
"To me, there is staggering evidence that Putin and
Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. I believe we should fully
support an investigation into those crimes, and the best way to do that is to
support the body that will carry out that investigation, the International
Criminal Court," Omar said in a statement to Insider.
"It would be staggeringly hypocritical to support an ICC
investigation into Russia, while opposing the court's very existence as a
non-member," she continued.
Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, introduced a resolution on
Thursday calling for the US to become a member of the ICC, an international
body based in The Hague, Netherlands, that investigates genocides, crimes
against humanity, and war crimes.
The resolution came after President Joe Biden called Russian
President Vladimir Putin a war criminal and called for a war crimes trial
against him after reports of atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
The New York Times reported earlier this week the Biden
administration was debating how involved the US should be in an ICC
investigation into Russia.