INTERNATIONAL
Biden has severally called Russian President, Vladimir Putin a war criminal, but for the first time on Tuesday recorded the first time he accused Russia of committing genocide in Ukraine.
Biden used the word genocide in a speech at an ethanol plant in Iowa and later stood by the description as he gets set to board Air Force One.
“Yes, I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is fast rising ,” Biden informed reporters.
He also made it known during his speech that, “We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.
However, Genocide has been defined as the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
According to U.N. convention, this includes through killings; serious bodily or mental harm; inflicting lethal conditions and measures to prevent births, among other means.
According to the BBC news, Biden said while speaking on fuel prices at an event in Iowa that, “Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away”.
Under international law, genocide is an intent to destroy – in whole or in part – a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
According to U.N. convention, this includes through killings; serious bodily or mental harm; inflicting lethal conditions and measures to prevent births, among other means.
Biden has made numerous statements about the war that U.S. officials have later had to revisit. The president stirred arguments on a recent trip to Poland when he ad-libbed a line at the end of a speech and said that Putin should not be allowed to remain in power. The White House clarified that U.S. policy was not to seek regime change.
Genocide, considered the most serious international offense, was first used to describe the Nazi Holocaust. It was established in 1948 as a crime under international law in a United Nations convention.
