Biden has been consistently outspoken in denouncing the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians by Russia, calling Putin a “war criminal” in mid-March. Numerous investigations are underway into Russian atrocities in Ukraine, including the leveling of Mariupol and the execution of civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha. A prosecutor at The International Criminal Court in The Hague opened a case in February, saying there was a “reasonable basis for believing that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine”. Proof of a case under the 1948 Genocide Convention requires an ‘intention [by the accused] to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group “. Biden first used the word incidentally on Tuesday at an Iowa home policy rally on the use of ethanol in gasoline. “Your family budget, your ability to fill your tank, none of this should depend on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away,” he said. Asked later if he intended to apply the condition to Russian actions in Ukraine, Biden told reporters: “Yes, I called it genocide because it is becoming increasingly clear that Putin is simply trying to eliminate the idea of still being Ukrainian. “And the evidence is growing,” he said. “More evidence comes from the horrific things the Russians have done in Ukraine. And we will only learn more and more about disaster. “We will let the lawyers decide internationally whether he meets the conditions or not, but it certainly seems so to me.” His comments were quickly accepted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who applauded what he called the “true words of a true leader.” “To say things by name is necessary to resist evil,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter. “We are grateful for the US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities.” Prior to the invasion, Putin described Ukraine’s separate existence as illegal, arguing that Russians and Ukrainians were one people. In addition to the brutal killing of civilians, Russia has been accused of forcibly transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war to Russia, including large numbers of children, and has changed the rules to make it easier for Russian families to adopt. Defining the line between crimes against humanity and genocide has sometimes proved difficult and divisive. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has ruled that the massacre of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica was genocide but not the mass killings by Serb forces in other municipalities, a discrimination that angered the population of other parts of the country.
