Toggle navigation menu.

U.S. Helsinki Commissioners Issue Statement in Nuremberg: Russia Must be Brought to Justice

February 20, 2024
Nuremberg, Germany
Court Room 600

NUREMBERG, GERMANYU.S. Helsinki Commission Chairman Joe Wilson (SC-02), Helsinki Commissioners Senator Thom Tillis (NC) and Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (IN-05), Congressman Lloyd Doggett (TX-37) and Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01) led a field hearing on February 20 to examine how best to bring Russian perpetrators to account for their war crimes in Ukraine. The hearing was held in the historic Courtroom 600, the site of the groundbreaking Nuremberg Trials, which took place after World War II to hold Nazi officials accountable for their crimes.

“In Nuremberg, the promise was ‘never again.’ And yet, today, in 2024, Russian authorities are committing the very crimes that the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg was created to address: the crime of aggression, war crimes, including the kidnapping of children, and crimes against humanity. We must bring to justice all perpetrators of the heinous crimes being committed in Ukraine today by Russian authorities – all the way up to Putin.

“For two years, the Russian military has launched wanton attacks on Ukrainian civilians, residential buildings, schools, hospitals, synagogues and churches, and critical infrastructure. The Ukrainian government has documented close to 20,000 cases of children taken to Russia or Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine for forced russification and assimilation, which is a war crime that could amount to genocide.

“At the same time, this war has become the most documented in history. Every day people are using their cell phones to photograph crime scenes. Drones are being used to access and record places that people cannot reach.  Open-source intelligence and social media are being mined for information and artificial intelligence is being used to identify perpetrators. This evidence will be crucial in holding Russian authorities to account. Nevertheless, in order to hold accountable those responsible for these crimes, including the highest levels of the Russian government, Ukrainian and international judicial mechanisms must be used effectively, and new ones may need to be established.”

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, addressing the hearing in a video, said, “No war can be truly ended without bringing to justice those thugs responsible for sparking this war, killing, and torturing, deporting children and adults… When determination arises and justice prevails, the aggressor falls, and evil gets punished.  Action makes a difference.”

The hearing was opened with welcoming remarks from Professor Christoph Safferling, Director of the Nuremberg Academy; Mr. Marcus König, Lord Mayor of the City of Nuremberg; Tobias Winkler, Member of the Bundestag; Ms. Angelika Schlunck, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Justice of Germany (pre-recorded video); and Dr. Georg Eisenreich, Minister of Justice of Bavaria (prerecorded video).

Panelists included: Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine; Prof. Veronika Bílková, OSCE Moscow Mechanism Rapporteur, Head of the Department of International Law, Faculty of Law of the Charles University; Roman Avramenko, Director of Truth Hounds; Roksolana Burianenko, Program Manager, Ukrainian Archive, Mnemonic; Dr Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė, Deputy Minister of Justice, Lithuania; Professor Christoph Safferling, Director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy; and Dr. Beth Van Schaack, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice.

Russia’s ongoing war crimes are having a devastating impact on Ukraine, and particularly on Ukrainian children, women, and innocent civilians.  As Ukraine and the international community work to bring the Russian Federation, its leadership, and other individual perpetrators to justice, there are lessons to be learned from the Nuremberg trials, which were the basis of a pioneering process that established much of the foundations of international criminal law which will be used to bring Russian perpetrators to justice for their crimes in Ukraine.

The event was held in cooperation with the International Nuremberg Principles Academy (Nuremberg Academy), which is a foundation established by the German Federal Foreign Office, the Free State of Bavaria, and the City of Nuremberg dedicated to the advancement of international criminal law and human rights.  The Commission on Security and Cooperation (also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission) was founded in 1976 as an independent U.S. government body mandated to monitor and encourage compliance with the Helsinki Final Act and subsequent OSCE documents by all participating States.

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent commission of the U.S. Government charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy and economic, environmental and military cooperation in fifty-seven countries. The Commission consists of nine members from the U.S. Senate, nine from the House of Representatives and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.

 ###

Media contact

Category
Country
Issue
Date
Filter Topics Open Close
Hearings

FIELD HEARING–Holding Russia Accountable for its War...

Feb 20, 2024

Session One: Russian crimes against Ukraine’s children, women, and civilians, as well as the use of new technologies in the collection of evidence Session Two: Holding the Russian state and affiliated individuals accountable through courts and international mechanisms Congresswomen Jackson Lee’s Audio Statement from for the Field Hearing: “Lessons from Nuremberg”

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

Helsinki Commission Leadership Responds to Murder of...

Feb 16, 2024

WASHINGTON — Following reports of Alexei Navalny’s death in prison, Helsinki Commission Chairman Representative Joe Wilson (SC-02) and Ranking Member Steve Cohen (TN-09) issued the following joint statement: “Alexei Navalny dedicated his life to seeing Russia free and at peace. Despite every cruel obstacle Putin placed in his way, even a near-fatal poisoning, he did not waver in his condemnation […]

screen-reader-text
Hearings

Eyewitness Accounts: Ukrainian Children and Adult Ci...

Jan 31, 2024

  Russia’s abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children and adult civilians as part of its war on Ukraine calls for urgent U.S. and international action to both save Ukraine’s children and civilians and to hold Russia accountable for its war crimes. The Ukrainian government has documented close to 20,000 cases of children taken to Russia […]

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

Wilson, Whitehouse, Tillis, Jackson Lee Applaud Incl...

Dec 08, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC – Representative Joe Wilson (SC-2), Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Helsinki Commissioner Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Senator Thom Tillis (NC), and Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) applauded the inclusion of the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act as part of the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). “We cannot allow authoritarians to extort American […]

screen-reader-text
Hearings

Making Russia Pay: Sovereign Asset Confiscation for ...

Dec 06, 2023

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its partners and allies have frozen an estimated $350 billion in Russian reserves held abroad. Members of Congress – including members of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) – and experts have advocated for governments to confiscate and repurpose these funds […]

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

Hearing – Making Russia Pay: Sovereign Asset Confisc...

Nov 30, 2023

HEARING NOTICE – Making Russia Pay: Sovereign Asset Confiscation for Ukrainian Victory Wednesday, December 6th 2:00-3:30 PM Dirksen Senate Office Building 608 Stream live here: https://youtube.com/live/9X0Ip2wjogs In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and its partners and allies have frozen an estimated $350 billion in Russian reserves held abroad. Members of Congress […]

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

CSCE Leadership Welcomes New Executive Branch Commis...

Nov 07, 2023

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, today announced the appointment of three Executive Branch Commissioners to the Commission. CSCE welcomed Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Donet Dominic Graves, Jr., and Department of State Coordinator for […]

screen-reader-text
In the News

Lawmakers say Kara-Murza case spotlights administrat...

Oct 26, 2023

screen-reader-text
Hearings

Hamas’ Hostages, Putin’s Prisoners, and Freeing Inte...

Oct 25, 2023

The practice of seizing hostages and political prisoners, as well as actively terrorizing civilians is a constant displayed by Hamas in Israel and Russia’s war against Ukraine. To highlight issues related to the United States’ strategy to free hostages and political prisoners, last year the Commission’s Ranking Member Congressman Steve Cohen and Chairman Joe Wilson […]

screen-reader-text
Press Releases

Hearing: Hamas’ Hostages, Putin’s Prisoners, and Fre...

Oct 20, 2023

Wednesday, October 25, 2023 10:00am – 11:30am Longworth House Office Building 1334 Stream live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U-5Mj_WQtE Hamas’ hostages and Putin’s political prisoners have seized the world’s attention, showing the depths oppressors around the world will sink to in terrorizing civilians and undermining democracy. Dictators and terrorists use violence to fuel fear in those they seek […]

screen-reader-text
Hearings

Israel and Ukraine Against Terror

Oct 19, 2023

Terrorist attacks against innocent Israeli and Ukrainian civilians have shocked the world with their cruelty and sophistication. These unprovoked attacks are fueled by transnational terrorist networks that include Hamas, Russia, and the Iranian regime, and which regularly target Ukrainian and Israeli civilians and infrastructure. Israel and Ukraine face common foes in terrorist networks that use […]

screen-reader-text
Articles

Helsinki Commission Advances Human Rights, Demands f...

Oct 19, 2023

By Shannon Simrell, Senior Policy Advisor Between October 2-13, 11 Helsinki Commission staff joined approximately 1,400 representatives of OSCE participating States (pS) and civil society representatives in Warsaw, Poland in an annual review of the human rights records of OSCE States. U.S. leadership highlighted demands for accountability from Russia and Belarus for their human rights […]

screen-reader-text