Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act of 2017

Summary: Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2017  (Sec. 4) This bill states that is U.S. policy to ensure that humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery assistance for nationals and residents of Iraq or Syria, and of communities from those countries, is directed toward ethnic and minority individuals and communities with the greatest need, including those individuals and communities that are at risk of persecution or war crimes.   (Sec. 5) The Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development may provide assistance, including financial and technical assistance, to support the efforts of entities, including nongovernmental organizations with expertise in international criminal investigations and law, to address crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes in Iraq since January 2014 by:   conducting criminal investigations,  developing indigenous investigative and judicial skills to adjudicate cases consistent with due process and respect for the rule of law, and  collecting and preserving evidence for use in prosecutions.   The State Department shall encourage foreign governments to identify and prosecute individuals who are suspected of committing such crimes, including members of foreign terrorist organizations operating in Iraq or Syria.  (Sec. 6) The State Department shall identify:   threats of persecution, genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against members of Iraqi or Syrian religious or ethnic groups that are minorities in Iraq or in Syria with respect to whom the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has committed such crimes in Iraq or Syria since January 2014 or who are members of other persecuted religious or ethnic groups;   persecuted religious and ethnic minority groups in Iraq or Syria that are at risk of forced migration and the primary reasons for such risk; humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs of these individuals; and   entities, including faith-based entities, that are providing such assistance and the extent of U.S. assistance to or through such entities.    (Sec. 7) The State Department shall provide Congress with:   a description of the efforts taken and proposed to implement this bill; and  an assessment of the feasibility and advisability of prosecuting individuals for acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes in Iraq since January 2014 or in Syria since March 2011.   

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and 
Accountability Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds the following:
        (1) The Secretary of State of State declared on March 17, 2016, 
    and on August 15, 2017, that Daesh (also known as the Islamic State 
    of Iraq and Syria or ISIS) is responsible for genocide, crimes 
    against humanity, and other atrocity crimes against religious and 
    ethnic minority groups in Iraq and Syria, including Christians, 
    Yezidis, and Shia, among other religious and ethnic groups.
        (2) According to the Department of State's annual reports on 
    international religious freedom--
            (A) the number of Christians living in Iraq has dropped 
        from an estimated 800,000 to 1,400,000 in 2002 to fewer than 
        250,000 in 2017; and
            (B) the number of Yezidis living in Iraq has fluctuated 
        from 500,000 in 2013, to between 350,000 and 400,000 in 2016, 
        and between 600,000 and 750,000 in 2017.
        (3) The annual reports on international religious freedom 
    further suggest that--
            (A) Christian communities living in Syria, which had 
        accounted for between 8 and 10 percent of Syria's total 
        population in 2010, are now ``considerably'' smaller as a 
        result of the civil war, and
            (B) there was a population of approximately 80,000 Yezidis 
        before the commencement of the conflict in Syria.
        (4) Local communities and entities have sought to mitigate the 
    impact of violence directed against religious and ethnic minorities 
    in Iraq and Syria, including the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of 
    Erbil (Kurdistan Region of Iraq), which has used predominantly 
    private funds to provide assistance to internally displaced 
    Christians, Yezidis, and Muslims throughout the greater Erbil 
    region, while significant needs and diminishing resources have made 
    it increasingly difficult to continue these efforts.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act:
        (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
    ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
            (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
            (C) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs of the Senate;
            (D) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
            (E) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate;
            (F) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (G) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (H) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (I) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (J) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
        House of Representatives.
        (2) Foreign terrorist organization.--The term ``foreign 
    terrorist organization'' mean an organization designated by the 
    Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to 
    section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
    1189(a)).
        (3) Humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs.--The term 
    ``humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs'', with respect 
    to an individual, includes water, sanitation, hygiene, food 
    security and nutrition, shelter and housing, reconstruction, 
    medical, education, psychosocial needs, and other assistance to 
    address basic human needs, including stabilization assistance (as 
    defined by the Stabilization Assistance Review in ``A Framework for 
    Maximizing the Effectiveness of U.S. Government Efforts to 
    Stabilize Conflict-Affected Areas, 2018).
        (4) Hybrid court.--The term ``hybrid court'' means a court with 
    a combination of domestic and international lawyers, judges, and 
    personnel.
        (5) Internationalized domestic court.--The term 
    ``internationalized domestic court'' means a domestic court with 
    the support of international advisers.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
    It is the policy of the United States to ensure that assistance for 
humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs of individuals who are 
or were nationals and residents of Iraq or Syria, and of communities in 
and from those countries, is directed toward those individuals and 
communities with the greatest need, including those individuals from 
communities of religious and ethnic minorities, and communities of 
religious and ethnic minorities, that the Secretary of State declared 
were targeted for genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, and 
have been identified as being at risk of persecution, forced migration, 
genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.
SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE ACCOUNTABILITY IN IRAQ FOR GENOCIDE, CRIMES 
AGAINST HUMANITY, AND WAR CRIMES.
    (a) Assistance.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development are authorized 
to provide assistance, including financial and technical assistance, as 
necessary and appropriate, to support the efforts of entities, 
including nongovernmental organizations with expertise in international 
criminal investigations and law, to address genocide, crimes against 
humanity, or war crimes, and their constituent crimes by ISIS in Iraq 
by--
        (1) conducting criminal investigations;
        (2) developing indigenous investigative and judicial skills, 
    including by partnering, directly mentoring, and providing 
    necessary equipment and infrastructure to effectively adjudicating 
    cases consistent with due process and respect for the rule of law; 
    and
        (3) collecting and preserving evidence and the chain of 
    evidence, including for use in prosecutions in domestic courts, 
    hybrid courts, and internationalized domestic courts, consistent 
    with the activities described in subsection (b).
    (b) Actions by Foreign Governments.--The Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall encourage governments of 
foreign countries--
        (1) to include information in appropriate security databases 
    and security screening procedures of such countries to identify 
    suspected ISIS members for whom credible evidence exists of having 
    committed genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, and 
    their constituent crimes, in Iraq; and
        (2) to apprehend and prosecute such ISIS members for genocide, 
    crimes against humanity, or war crimes, as appropriate.
    (c) Consultation.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of 
State shall consult with and consider credible information from 
entities described in such subsection.
SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION OF AND ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS HUMANITARIAN, 
STABILIZATION, AND RECOVERY NEEDS OF CERTAIN PERSONS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA.
    (a) Identification.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with 
the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development, and Director of National Intelligence, 
shall seek to identify--
        (1) threats of persecution and other early-warning indicators 
    of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against 
    individuals who are or were nationals and residents of Iraq or 
    Syria, are members of religious or ethnic minority groups in such 
    countries, and against whom the Secretary of State has determined 
    ISIS has committed genocide, crimes against humanity, or war 
    crimes;
        (2) the religious and ethnic minority groups in Iraq or Syria 
    identified pursuant to paragraph (1) that are at risk of forced 
    migration, within or across the borders of Iraq, Syria, or a 
    country of first asylum, and the primary reasons for such risk;
        (3)(A) the humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs of 
    individuals described in paragraphs (1) and (2), including the 
    assistance provided by the United States and by the United Nations, 
    respectively--
            (i) to address the humanitarian, stabilization, and 
        recovery needs of such individuals; and
            (ii) to mitigate the risks of forced migration of such 
        individuals; and
        (B) assistance provided through the Funding Facility for 
    Immediate Stabilization and Funding Facility for Expanded 
    Stabilization; and
        (4) to the extent practicable and appropriate--
            (A) the entities, including faith-based entities, that are 
        providing assistance to address the humanitarian, 
        stabilization, and recovery needs of individuals described in 
        paragraphs (1) and (2); and
            (B) the extent to which the United States is providing 
        assistance to or through the entities referred to in 
        subparagraph (A).
    (b) Additional Consultation.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
Secretary of State shall consult with, and consider credible 
information from--
        (1) individuals described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of such 
    subsection; and
        (2) the entities described in paragraph (4)(A) of such 
    subsection.
    (c) Assistance.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development are authorized 
to provide assistance, including financial and technical assistance as 
necessary and appropriate, to support the entities described in 
subsection (a)(4)(A).
SEC. 7. REPORT.
    (a) Implementation Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a 
report to the appropriate congressional committees that includes--
        (1) a detailed description of the efforts taken, and efforts 
    proposed to be taken, to implement the provisions of this Act;
        (2) an assessment of--
            (A) the feasibility and advisability of prosecuting ISIS 
        members for whom credible evidence exists of having committed 
        genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes in Iraq, 
        including in domestic courts in Iraq, hybrid courts, and 
        internationalized domestic courts; and
            (B) the measures needed--
                (i) to ensure effective criminal investigations of such 
            individuals; and
                (ii) to effectively collect and preserve evidence, and 
            preserve the chain of evidence, for prosecution; and
        (3) recommendations for legislative remedies and administrative 
    actions to facilitate the implementation of this Act.
    (b) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex, if 
necessary.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.