A new U.S. Justice Department team focused on identifying and prosecuting those who have committed war crimes in Ukraine will be led by a former Nazi hunter for the DOJ, announced Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday during a visit to the Eastern European country.
Eli Rosenbaum, a 36-year veteran of the Justice Department, previously served as the director of the Office of Special Investigations, which was primarily responsible for identifying, denaturalizing and deporting Nazi war criminals, according to the DOJ.
In his new role, Rosenbaum will lead a War Crimes Accountability team made up of DOJ experts in investigating human-rights abuses and war crimes.
The team will also assist the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation of potential war crimes over which the U.S. has jurisdiction, such as the killing and wounding of American journalists covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the DOJ.
“There is no hiding place for war criminals. The U.S. Justice Department will pursue every avenue of accountability for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine,” said Garland. “Working alongside our domestic and international partners, the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable every person complicit in the commission of war crimes, torture and other grave violations during the unprovoked conflict in Ukraine.”
