‘We Have a Very Long Memory’: Garland Promises to Hold Russian War Criminals Accountable
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In a joint press conference on Monday with Ukrainian prosecutor general Andriy Kostin, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the U.S. would take additional legal measures to combat Russian war criminals.
The Justice Department will send an experienced prosecutor to The Hague to be based at the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation. That appointment will provide greater DOJ resources to international partners fighting the Russian war machine. Additionally, the DOJ will send a resident legal adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to work on a variety of complex justice-sector issues. Criminal-justice reform is generally required of countries who want to attain NATO and EU membership.
“We have a very long memory, as I know that Ukraine does as well, and these things tend to not work out very well for the people who commit these crimes and are prosecuted,” Garland explained when asked what the time line is for prosecuting Russian war criminals.
“I wouldn’t expect for anything to happen tomorrow, except for [war criminals] who are found in Ukraine or are found in the United States, but in the long-run we expect justice to be done,” Garland added.
The new DOJ measures follow Garland’s trip to Ukraine last month, during which he signed a memorandum of understanding that formalizes U.S. cooperation with the Ukraine Joint Investigative Team (JIT), which is investigating core international crimes committed in Ukraine. The JIT comprises Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Estonia, Romania, and Latvia. The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court is also involved. The experienced prosecutor whom the DOJ will detail to the Hague will assist the JIT in its investigations.
“Our Ukrainian colleagues are also assisting us with our investigations that are led by the [DOJ’s] War Crimes Accountability Team into potential war crimes over which the United States possesses criminal jurisdiction,” explained Garland. “These include crimes in which American citizens have been harmed or killed.” He added that “with respect to crimes against Americans, which we have our own jurisdiction for, we have been making good progress with respect to some suspects. That investigation is going very well.”
Deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco, who also took part in the press conference, echoed Garland’s promise. “Our resolve at the Justice Department has never beens stronger in this work. We are dedicating more resources to ensuring accountability and to combating those that facilitate the Russian war machine,” she explained. She added that both she and Kostin will be appearing in front of Congress this week to discuss what U.S. and Ukrainian law enforcement are doing and what more can be done.
Kostin thanked the U.S. for its efforts and reiterated that Ukraine remains committed to criminal-justice reform. He also highlighted the joint effort entitled Task Force KleptoCapture — a team of prosecutors, agents, analysts, translators, and others — that continues to bring prosecutions and effect seizures against sanctioned enablers of the Kremlin and the Russian military. “We are intensifying our efforts to freeze the Wagner Group’s overseas assets to deprive the group of the resources to finance its criminal activities in Ukraine and worldwide,” Kostin explained.
Congress has granted the DOJ the authority to transfer certain assets seized from Russian oligarchs for use in rebuilding Ukraine.
In terms of additional cooperation, Kostin said that Ukraine would welcome learning programs sponsored by the DOJ on how to combat cyber crime as well as the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. “We are talking extensively about the possibility of sharing intelligence information to investigate and prosecute specific war crimes committed by Russians,” Kostin added.
To Kostin, the overall goal of U.S.–Ukrainian cooperation in this regard is to “strengthen a global coalition for justice so there are no safe havens for perpetrators anywhere in the world.”
The prosecutor general also answered a question about whether the recent leak of Pentagon documents had affected the cooperation between the two countries. Some of the documents leaked by a Massachusetts airman, who has now been arrested and charged under the Espionage Act, contained intelligence on the war in Ukraine.
“With regard to our accountability efforts, this leak has no influence on our work,” explained Kostin. “We are united . . . to making all perpetrators accountable for all war crimes committed on Ukrainian soil against Ukraine and against Ukrainians.”
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