The Pentagon's top brass has been working behind closed doors to prevent the Biden administration from handing over evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine to international prosecutors, according to a report published Wednesday.
The effort to prevent the intelligence collected by US agencies from being shared with the International Criminal Court (ICC) is due to fears among American military leaders that such action could set a precedent that could later lead to the prosecution of Americans, the New York Times reported. All other agencies agree that it should be handed over.
The information reportedly relates to orders from Russia's leadership to target civilian infrastructure and abduct thousands of Ukrainians, particularly children, from territories occupied by the Kremlin's forces.
Amid the impasse, the National Security Council held a high-level meeting on Feb. 3 to address the issue, during which Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin continued to voice his objections, the Times reported, citing anonymous US officials. President Joe Biden has yet to make a final decision.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who previously pushed to reduce barriers on sharing information with the ICC, "confirmed the parameters of the dispute and blamed the Defense Department for its reluctance," the Times said.
"D.O.D. opposed the legislative change — it passed overwhelmingly — and they are now trying to undermine the letter and spirit of the law," Graham told the newspaper. "It seems to me that D.O.D. is the problem child here, and the sooner we can get the information into the hands of the I.C.C., the better off the world will be."
The ICC was founded following a 1998 international treaty known as the Rome Statute. The court is a venue for the prosecution of individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The US voted against its creation and is not a signatory to the Rome Statute. Ex-President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the court in retaliation for its attempts to investigate the torture of individuals detained during the Bush administration in its war on terror.
Biden lifted the ICC sanctions three months after coming to office, and Congress in December lifted restrictions on the kinds of information the US government can provide to the court, including that which will assist with "investigations and prosecutions of foreign nationals related to the situation in Ukraine, including to support victims and witnesses."
