While we deal in this country with the horrific violence brought on by the broad accessibility of assault-style weapons, a systematic campaign of genocide has been waged since February 24 on the people of Ukraine by Putin's invading forces. International observers and legal experts on genocide have been documenting hundreds of cases perpetrated by Russian armed forces, and are now releasing a comprehensive report on the carnage. From CNN:
"Russia's actions in Ukraine provide enough evidence to conclude that Moscow is inciting genocide and committing atrocities intended to destroy the Ukrainian people, according to the first independent report into allegations of genocide in that country.
The legal report, signed by more than 30 leading legal scholars and genocide experts, accuses the Russian state of violating several articles of the United Nations Genocide Convention. It warns there is a serious and imminent risk of genocide in Ukraine, backing the accusations with a long list of evidence including examples of mass killings of civilians, forced deportations and dehumanizing anti-Ukrainian rhetoric used by top Russian officials.
The report was put together by New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a US-based think tank, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights which is based in Canada, and is set to release on Friday, with the authors sending copies to parliaments, governments and international organizations around the world. An advance copy of the report has been shared exclusively with CNN."
'We assembled top legal experts from around the globe who then examined all the evidence and they came to the conclusion that the Russian Federation bears responsibility for breaches of the Genocide Convention in Ukraine,' Azeem Ibrahim of the New Lines Institute told CNN. Ibrahim visited Ukraine in March to gather evidence for the report.
'This is a very thorough and detailed examination of extensive evidence,' he said. 'What we have seen so far is that this war is genocidal in its nature, in terms of the language being used and the manner in which it is being executed. That's very, very clear.'" (our emphasis)
The latest horror committed by Putin's people is the forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia to endure "filtration", i.e. forced indoctrination in Putin's rationale for his invasion and more, with the purpose of eventually returning them to Ukraine to serve as advocates for Russia.
The more that Russia's crimes in Ukraine can be documented and verified, the better the likelihood that at least some of the perpetrators will face justice. It's also the best case for making sure Russia -- not taxpayers in the West -- bear the costs of Putin's criminal war of aggression and territorial expansion.
