US Fears Its Own Soldiers Being Targeted By ICC, If It Shares Evidence Of Russian Atrocities In Ukraine

The Pentagon — United States Ministry Of Defence — is blocking any evidence-sharing with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to punish Russia for the alleged atrocities in Ukraine, reported New York Times.

The Pentagon, the report says, fears setting a precedent where the US soldiers also could be taken to ICC for their treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The US administration led by US president Joe Biden, on the other hand, is in favour of sharing the evidence with the ICC.

The US has even changed a legislation to make it easy for the administration to assist the ICC in the investigation against the alleged Russian atrocities civilians in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The International Criminal Court was created two decades ago to investigate crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes under a 1998 treaty called Rome Statute.

India, Russia, and the US, are not a signatory to the treaty.

The ICC has no jurisdiction over citizens of countries that are not a signatory to the treaty.

Earlier, India in a meeting in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has condemned the killings of civilians at Bucha and has asked for an independent UN investigation.

Bucha is a suburb of Kyiv where bodies of civilians were found after the withdrawal of Russian forces in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has blamed Russia for the killings in Bucha.