When President Joe Biden declares Russia’s Ukraine war “genocide,” it isn’t just another strong word.
A formal U.S. follow-up accusing Russia of a campaign aimed at wiping out a targeted group could carry obligations on the world to consider action. That’s because of a genocide treaty approved by the U.N. General Assembly in the years immediately after World War II, signed by the United States and more than 150 other nations.
The convention was the work of, among others, a Polish Jew who’d seen his family murdered. The advocates pushed for something that would make the world not just condemn but actually punish future genocides.
In comments Tuesday, Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.” Many other world leaders have not gone as far. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Russia’s behavior in Ukraine “doesn’t look far short of genocide,” but the U.K. has not officially used the term, saying only a court can make such a designation.
