U.S. Unlikely to Face War Crimes Trial, Despite GOP Claim: Court Adviser

House Republicans who voted against investigating and gathering evidence of Russia's alleged war crimes in Ukraine defended their votes by arguing that doing so would open up American soldiers to their own prosecution.

But a special adviser for the International Criminal Court (ICC) told Newsweek that the claims are "misplaced" and the chances that U.S. military members would be put on trial by the court would be slim.

On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act amid growing calls for a war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While most Republicans backed the measure, six GOP lawmakers opposed the bill, saying the legislation would "set the table for bringing spurious war crimes charges against American service members for mistakes made during military operations in theaters such as Afghanistan."

The assertion are based on the historical relationship between the ICC and the U.S., which, like Russia, is not a member of the court. Nations that never ratified the ICC's Rome Statute argued that the court does not have the jurisdiction to prosecute nationals of a state that has not joined.

But Leila Sadat, the special adviser on crimes against humanity for the ICC prosecutor, said that even if the U.S. decided to ratify the statute, it would be unlikely that the court would bring such a trial against U.S. soldiers.

"This fixation about the hypothetical possibility that U.S. persons would somehow commit serious war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide and be charged by the Court is simply misplaced," Sadat told Newsweek.

Should the U.S. become one of the ICC's state parties, international prosecutors would likely dismiss their investigation if the U.S. were to open its own, much like the court did in the case against U.K. soldiers in Iraq once the U.K. launched a probe.

"It is the policy of the U.S. government to prosecute its own for war crimes should they unhappily occur, and very little actual prospect of ICC prosecution of U.S. persons," Sadat said.

Even if the ICC did not release its jurisdiction over an investigation into the U.S. military—which seems unlikely—the alleged crimes in Afghanistan being targeted by the court do not involve American service members.

"The bulk of the crimes alleged by the prosecutor were war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the Taliban, as well as some crimes allegedly committed by Afghan National Forces," Sadat said.

"Only a very small portion of the prosecutor's application to open the investigation covered allegations of torture committed in detention allegedly by U.S. persons."

She noted that the current ICC prosecutor has already deprioritized the alleged crimes committed by the U.S., choosing instead to focus on crimes allegedly committed by other parties.

"If Ukraine can submit itself to the rule of law as it fights for its very survival, the U.S. can as well," Sadat said. "The Geneva Conventions and other rules of international humanitarian law protect the soldiers of all parties to the conflict, who are entitled to be treated with dignity, especially if wounded or captured, as well as the civilian population."