A resolution condemning the deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation and the forcible transfer of children within territories of Ukraine that are temporarily occupied by Russian forces.

III Calendar No. 99 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 158 Condemning the deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federa- tion and the forcible transfer of children within territories of Ukraine that are temporarily occupied by Russian forces. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 17, 2023 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. THUNE, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. COONS) submitted the following resolu- tion; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations JUNE 13, 2023 Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, without amendment and an amendment to the preamble [Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic] RESOLUTION Condemning the deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation and the forcible transfer of chil- dren within territories of Ukraine that are temporarily occupied by Russian forces. Whereas, on January 12, 1951, the Convention on the Pre- vention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (com- monly known as the ‘‘Genocide Convention’’), of which the Russian Federation is a signatory, came into effect; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •SRES 158 RS Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an illegal and unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine; Whereas, on March 22, 2022, the Ukrainian Foreign Min- istry announced that the Russian military had forcefully and illegally kidnapped 2,389 Ukrainian children from temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine; Whereas forcibly transferring children of one group to an- other group is a violation of Article II(e) of the Conven- tion on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted and opened for signature in 1948 and entered into force in 1951 (commonly known as the ‘‘Genocide Convention’’); Whereas the unlawful deportation or transfer of people con- stitutes a breach of Article 147 of the Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (commonly re- ferred to as the ‘‘Fourth Geneva Convention’’); Whereas, Maria Lvova-Belova, Children’s Rights Commis- sioner for the President of Russia, admitted to kidnap- ping Ukrainian children and facilitating forced adoptions to Russian families; Whereas Ukrainian authorities have stated that a number of the kidnapped Ukrainian children have families who re- main in Ukraine, but have been separated due to the Russian invasion; Whereas, on May 30, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed a decree simplifying the procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainian orphans and children without parental care, VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •SRES 158 RS thereby expediting the process of illegal adoption of de- ported Ukrainian children by Russian families; Whereas, on June 2, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that 200,000 children are among the Ukrainians who have been forcefully resettled in Russia; Whereas, on June 16, 2022, Russian authorities announced that children born in occupied Ukrainian territories after the February 24, 2022, invasion will be deemed Russian citizens; Whereas, on July 11, 2022, United Nations Secretary Gen- eral Anto´nio Guterres ordered an investigation into the deaths and injuries of Ukrainian children; Whereas, on July 13, 2022, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken issued a statement calling upon Russia to ‘‘im- mediately halt its systemic filtration operations in Ukraine’’, which have caused the disappearance, deten- tion, or forcible deportation of between 900,000 and 1,600,000 Ukrainians (approximately 260,000 of whom are children); Whereas, on December 5, 2022, Ukrainian Parliament Com- missioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, an- nounced that at least 2,800,000 Ukrainians have been deported to Russia; Whereas, on March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued warrants of arrest, relating to the war crimes described in subsections (a)(vii) and (b)(viii) of section 2 of article 8 of the Rome Statute of the Inter- national Criminal Court, for— (1) Vladimir Putin, for— (A) the unlawful deportation of population (children); and VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •SRES 158 RS (B) the unlawful transfer of population (chil- dren) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation; and (2) Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia, for— (A) the unlawful deportation of population (children); and (B) the unlawful transfer of population (chil- dren) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation; and Whereas, as of March 27, 2023, the official platform ‘‘Chil- dren of War’’, which was created by the Ministry of Re- integration and the National Information Bureau on be- half of the Office of the President of Ukraine reported that— (1) at least 465 Ukrainian children have been killed and 942 Ukrainian children have been wounded since Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine began; and (2) there has been 16,207 verified cases of Ukrain- ian children being deported to Russia out of a possible 744,000 cases: Now, therefore, be it Whereas, on January 12, 1951, the Convention on the Preven- tion and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (commonly known as the ‘‘Genocide Convention’’), of which the Rus- sian Federation is a signatory, came into effect; Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an illegal and unprovoked further invasion of Ukraine; Whereas, on March 22, 2022, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that the Russian military had forcefully and il- legally kidnapped 2,389 Ukrainian children from tempo- rarily occupied areas of Ukraine; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •SRES 158 RS Whereas forcibly transferring children of one group to another group can constitute a violation of Article II(e) of the Con- vention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted and opened for signature in 1948 and entered into force in 1951 (commonly known as the ‘‘Genocide Convention’’); Whereas the unlawful deportation or transfer of protected peo- ple constitutes a breach of Article 147 of the Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (commonly re- ferred to as the ‘‘Fourth Geneva Convention’’); Whereas, Maria Lvova-Belova, Children’s Rights Commissioner for the President of Russia, admitted to kidnapping Ukrainian children and facilitating forced adoptions to Russian families; Whereas Ukrainian authorities have stated that a number of the kidnapped Ukrainian children have families who re- main in Ukraine, but have been separated due to the Rus- sian invasion; Whereas, on May 30, 2022, the President of the Russian Fed- eration, Vladimir Putin, signed a decree simplifying the procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainian orphans and children without parental care, thereby expe- diting the process of illegal adoption of deported Ukrain- ian children by Russian families; Whereas, on June 2, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that 200,000 children are among the Ukrainians who have been forcefully resettled in Russia; Whereas on June 16, 2022, Russian authorities announced that children born in occupied Ukrainian territories after VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •SRES 158 RS the February 24, 2022, invasion will be deemed Russian citizens; Whereas, on July 11, 2022, United Nations Secretary General Anto´nio Guterres ordered an investigation into the deaths and injuries of Ukrainian children; Whereas, on January 27, 2023, United Nations High Commis- sioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, accused Russia of vio- lating the ‘‘fundamental principles of child protection’’ by giving Russian passports to unaccompanied Ukrainian child refugees and putting them up for adoption; Whereas, on July 13, 2022, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken issued a statement calling upon Russia to ‘‘imme- diately halt its systemic filtration operations in Ukraine’’, which have caused the disappearance, detention, or forcible deportation of between 900,000 and 1,600,000 Ukrainians (approximately 260,000 of whom are children); Whereas, on December 5, 2022, Ukrainian Parliament Com- missioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, an- nounced that at least 2,800,000 Ukrainians have been de- ported to Russia; Whereas on March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued warrants of arrest, relating to the war crimes de- scribed in subsections (a)(vii) and (b)(viii) of section 2 of article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Crimi- nal Court, for— (1) Vladimir Putin, for— (A) the unlawful deportation of population (chil- dren); and (B) the unlawful transfer of population (chil- dren) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation; and VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •SRES 158 RS (2) Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia, for— (A) the unlawful deportation of population (chil- dren); and (B) the unlawful transfer of population (chil- dren) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation; and Whereas, as of June 1, 2023, the official platform ‘‘Children of War’’, which was created by the Ministry of Reintegra- tion and the National Information Bureau on behalf of the Office of the President of Ukraine reported that— (1) at least 484 Ukrainian children have been killed and 992 Ukrainian children have been wounded since Rus- sia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine began; and (2) there has been 19,505 verified cases of Ukrainian children being deported to Russia: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) holds the Government of the Russian Fed- 2 eration, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, re- 3 sponsible for the wrongful and illegal kidnapping of 4 children from Ukraine and officially condemns these 5 actions in the strongest terms; 6 (2) condemns— 7 (A) the forcible mass transfer of millions 8 of Ukrainian civilians, hundreds of thousands of 9 whom are children, to the Russian Federation 10 or territories controlled by the Russian Federa- 11 tion; and 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •SRES 158 RS (B) the facilitation of illegal adoptions, 1 which could constitute a violation of Russia’s 2 obligations under the Genocide Convention and 3 amount to genocide; 4 (3) claims that the Russian Federation is at- 5 tempting to wipe out a generation of Ukrainian chil- 6 dren, thereby crippling Ukraine’s ability to nurture 7 the next generation of Ukrainian citizens and lead- 8 ers and to rebuild their country after Russia’s 9 unprovoked war, with the purpose of demolishing 10 Ukraine’s unique language, culture, history, and 11 identity; 12 (4) asserts that the invasion of Ukraine by the 13 Russian Federation has significantly increased the 14 risks of children being exposed to human trafficking 15 and exploitation, child labor, gender-based violence, 16 hunger, injury, trauma, deprivation of education and 17 shelter, and death; 18 (5) urges the President to use all legal means 19 necessary to hold accountable those responsible for 20 the forcible deportation and displacement of children 21 in Ukraine; 22 (6) asserts that United States policy should in- 23 volve assisting in reunification efforts between 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •SRES 158 RS Ukrainian children deported or displaced by Russia’s 1 ongoing invasion of Ukraine and their families; and 2 (7) calls upon the President to impose sanctions 3 on those responsible for the forcible deportation and 4 displacement of Ukrainian children, including 5 through the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Ac- 6 countability Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.). 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Calendar No. 99 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 158 RESOLUTION Condemning the deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation and the forc- ible transfer of children within territories of Ukraine that are temporarily occupied by Rus- sian forces. JUNE 13, 2023 Reported without amendment and an amendment to the preamble VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\SR158.RS SR158 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB