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White House Reportedly Seeks to Cut Funding for War Crimes Investigations, Including in Ukraine

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Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko
Dariia Mykhailenko
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White House Reportedly Seeks to Cut Funding for War Crimes Investigations, Including in Ukraine
A protester holds a placard that says "Russia breaks international law" during the rally in Warsaw, Poland on June 26, 2024. (Source: Getty Images)

The White House has recommended cutting US funding for nearly two dozen programs that support war crimes investigations in countries like Myanmar, Syria, and Ukraine.

As reported by Reuters on June 27, citing its own sources, the Office of Management and Budget sent a letter to the US State Department proposing to defund several initiatives. Among them are key programs that help collect and document evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that projects under threat include Global Rights Compliance, which assists in gathering evidence of atrocities such as sexual violence and torture across Ukraine, and Legal Action Network, a legal aid group that supports local efforts to prosecute Russian suspects.

It remains unclear whether the State Department will act on the recommendation. The White House letter reportedly sets high standards for justifying which programs should be preserved.

One source noted that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio might push to protect critical efforts in Ukraine, especially those he supported during his time in the Senate.

“Even if Secretary Rubio intervenes to save these programs, many of which he supported as a senator, there will be no one left to manage these programs,” the source warned.

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities documented at least 5,974 cases of cluster munition use since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

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