US: Deal struck over expansion of war crimes law
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Senators of both parties have agreed a deal over a draft bill that would widen the ambit of a 1996 war crimes law to give American courts jurisdiction in cases involving foreign atrocities, in an apparent response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The draft bill, obtained by The New York Times, would enable the Justice Department to prosecute people accused of war crimes if they visit the US.
“The United States must not be a safe haven for war criminals looking to escape justice in their home country,” said the bill’s author, Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa.
“This bill sends a strong message that people who commit war crimes are not welcome here and should be punished, regardless of where their offense was committed or who they victimized.”
Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, said the bill would fill “an egregious gap in our laws” to allow for the prosecution of foreign war criminals in the United States.
“Perpetrators committing unspeakable war crimes, such as those unfolding before our very eyes in Ukraine, must be held to account,” he said in a statement. “We have the power and responsibility to ensure that the United States will not be used as a safe haven by the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.”
The War Crimes Act of 1996 incorporates international laws governing war into American domestic law. It made it a crime to commit a “grave breach” of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
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