I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2050

To prohibit cooperation with or assistance to any investigation or prosecution 

under a universal jurisdiction statute. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2003

Mr. ACKERMAN (for himself and Mr. WEXLER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To prohibit cooperation with or assistance to any investigation or prosecution under a universal jurisdiction statute.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Universal Jurisdiction 

5 Rejection Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) On July 16, 1993, the parliament of Bel9 gium adopted a statute, the ‘‘Anti-Atrocity Law,’’ 

10 covering grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conven-
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1 tions and the Additional Protocols I and II of 1977 

2 to those Conventions. Under the 1993 law, Belgian 

3 courts claim to have jurisdiction over violations of 

4 humanitarian law under the Geneva Conventions 

5 and Additional Protocols, regardless of the ‘‘char6 acter’’ of the conflict, the location of the alleged 

7 acts, or the nationality of the victim or alleged per8 petrator. 

9 (2) In 1999, Belgium’s ‘‘Anti-Atrocity Law’’ 

10 was amended to include genocide and crimes against 

11 humanity to international crimes over which Belgian 

12 courts can exercise universal jurisdiction. The 1999 

13 amendments adopted the definition of crimes against 

14 humanity used in the Rome Statute of the Inter15 national Criminal Court, which includes acts such as 

16 murder when committed as part of a widespread or 

17 systematic attack against civilians. 

18 (3) On June 18, 2001, 23 Lebanese-Palestinian 

19 nationals brought a petition to Belgium’s Attorney 

20 General filing a criminal complaint under Belgium’s 

21 ‘‘Anti-Atrocity Law’’ against Israeli Prime Minister 

22 Ariel Sharon, former Director-General of the Israeli 

23 Ministry of Defense Amos Yaron, and ‘‘all other per24 sons whether Lebanese or Israeli whose responsi25 bility will be established during the course of the in-
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1 vestigation,’’ alleging their complicity with the 

2 Phalangist massacres of Palestinians in the Sabra 

3 and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. 

4 (4) The suit against Prime Minister Sharon—

5 (A) is politically motivated—

6 (i) since the events concerned took 

7 place in 1982, the Belgian ‘‘Anti-Atrocity 

8 Law’’ was passed in 1993 and amended in 

9 1999, and the proceedings were only com10 menced in 2001 after Ariel Sharon became 

11 Prime Minister of Israel; and 

12 (ii) since the issue of the Sabra and 

13 Shatila massacres was already examined by 

14 the Kahan Commission, established by the 

15 Government of Israel on September 28, 

16 1982, under section 4 of Israel’s Commis17 sions of Inquiry Law of 1968; 

18 (B) is an assault on the internationally ac19 cepted concept of state sovereignty since neither 

20 the plaintiffs nor the defendants have any con21 nection to Belgium whatsoever, and there is no 

22 claim that any crime has been committed on 

23 Belgian soil or against Belgian nationals; and 

24 (C) is an assault on the internationally rec25 ognized legal principle regarding the inadmis-
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1 sibility of prosecution under ex post facto legis2 lation. 

3 (5) On September 5, 2001, the Belgian Inves4 tigating Magistrate decided that he had no jurisdic5 tion to investigate the suit. 

6 (6) On June 26, 2002, the Belgian Court of 

7 Appeals ruled the complaint against Prime Minister 

8 Sharon, et al., was ‘‘not admissible because of the 

9 principle of Belgian law that crimes committed in 

10 other countries cannot be prosecuted in Belgium un11 less the author or presumed author has been found 

12 in Belgium’’. 

13 (7) In January 2003, the Belgian Chief Pros14 ecutor for the Appellate Court (Chamber of Indict15 ments), in the legal opinion he gave to the Supreme 

16 Court justices, unambiguously pointed out that the 

17 general principle governing universal jurisdiction—

18 ‘‘extradite or prosecute’’—implies that the defendant 

19 must be present in the territory of a prosecuting 

20 state and cited the Geneva Conventions, which also 

21 require the presence of the defendant. The Belgian 

22 Chief Prosecutor for the Appellate Court argued fur23 ther that conducting such proceedings in absentia 

24 would be prejudicial to the rights of the defense, and 

25 even warned against rendering the Belgian legal sys-
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1 tem a ‘‘virtual’’ forum for frivolous prosecutions if 

2 complainants were not required to prove a link to 

3 Belgium. The Belgian Chief Prosecutor for the Ap4 pellate Court further recommended to the Supreme 

5 Court that it should reject the suit. 

6 (8) On February 12, 2003, the Belgian Su7 preme Court (Cour de Cassation) reversed the Bel8 gian Court of Appeals and decided that Belgium in9 deed has jurisdiction to hear the case against Prime 

10 Minister Sharon et al., even in the absence of any 

11 link to Belgium. With regard to Prime Minister 

12 Sharon, the Belgian Supreme Court decided that 

13 further proceedings against him should be post14 poned, since he presently enjoys immunity due to his 

15 position as Prime Minister, but that proceedings 

16 may continue against him when he is no longer in 

17 office. With regard to former Director-General of the 

18 Israeli Ministry of Defense Amos Yaron and any 

19 other defendants, the Belgian Supreme Court held 

20 that proceedings against them can continue as nor21 mal.

22 (9) On March 18, 2003, seven Iraqi families, 

23 together with a nongovernmental organization that 

24 opposes current United States policy toward Iraq, 

25 filed suit in the Belgian courts under Belgium’s 
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1 ‘‘Anti-Atrocity Law’’ against President George H.W. 

2 Bush, Vice-President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary 

3 of State Colin L. Powell, and General H. Norman 

4 Schwarzkopf (U.S. Army-Ret.), alleging their re5 sponsibility for war crimes during the 1991 Persian 

6 Gulf War. 

7 (10) On April 2, 2003, the Chamber of Rep8 resentatives of Belgium, by a vote of 63–48, amend9 ed and circumscribed Belgium’s ‘‘Anti-Atrocity 

10 Law’’ to require a nexus between Belgium and the 

11 alleged warcrime or atrocity. 

12 (11) On April 4, 2003, the Senate of Belgium 

13 failed to adopt the amendments adopted by the Bel14 gian Chamber of Representatives on April 2, 2003. 

15 (12) On April 5, 2003, the Senate of Belgium 

16 approved the amendments adopted by the Belgian 

17 Chamber of Representatives on April 2, 2003. As 

18 amended, the Belgian ‘‘Anti-Atrocity Law’’ allows 

19 the Belgian Minister of Justice, in cases in which 

20 the alleged victim is not Belgian and the accused’s 

21 home state upholds the right of a fair trial, to inter22 vene and refer the complaint to that state. Further, 

23 the amended law provides that before a victim can 

24 file a case directly in the future, there must be some 

25 link with Belgium, whether because the suspect is on 
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1 Belgian soil, because the alleged crimes took place in 

2 Belgium, or because the victim is Belgian or has 

3 lived in Belgium for at least three years. 

4 (13) A growing number of countries have 

5 adopted universal jurisdiction acts which authorize 

6 the national judicial or prosecutorial authorities of a 

7 country to investigate, prosecute, and punish geno8 cide, war crimes, acts of torture, violations of human 

9 rights, or crimes against humanity not involving any 

10 of the nationals or property of that country, or that 

11 did not occur on the territory of that country or ter12 ritory under its control. 

13 (14) Implicit within the very concept of uni14 versal jurisdiction is a threat to the sovereignty of 

15 the United States. There now exists the possibility 

16 that foreign courts claiming universal jurisdiction 

17 could entertain suits brought by third-country na18 tionals against members of the Armed Forces of the 

19 United States and the President and other senior 

20 elected and appointed officials of the United States 

21 Government. No less than members of the Armed 

22 Forces of the United States, senior officials of the 

23 United States Government deserve the full protec24 tion of the United States Constitution with respect 
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1 to official actions taken by them to protect the na2 tional interests of the United States. 

3 SEC. 3. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES CONCERNING 

4 CLAIMS OF UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION. 

5 It is the policy of the United States to reject any 

6 claim of universal jurisdiction made by foreign govern7 ments and to refuse to render any assistance or support 

8 to any foreign government pursuing an investigation or 

9 prosecution under a universal jurisdiction act. 

10 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON COOPERATION WITH ANY INVES11 TIGATION OR PROSECUTION UNDER A UNI12 VERSAL JURISDICTION ACT. 

13 (a) CONSTRUCTION.—The provisions of this sec14 tion—

15 (1) apply only to cooperation with investigations 

16 and prosecutions under a universal jurisdiction act 

17 and shall not be construed to apply to cooperation 

18 with an ad hoc international criminal tribunal estab19 lished by the United Nations Security Council before 

20 or after the enactment of this Act to investigate and 

21 prosecute war crimes committed in a specific country 

22 or during a specific conflict; and 

23 (2) shall not be construed to prohibit—

24 (A) any action permitted under section 6; 
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1 (B) any other action taken by members of 

2 the Armed Forces of the United States outside 

3 the territory of the United States while engaged 

4 in military operations involving the threat or 

5 use of force when necessary to protect such per6 sonnel from harm or to ensure the success of 

7 such operations; or 

8 (C) communication by the United States to 

9 a foreign government of its policy with respect 

10 to a particular matter concerning a universal 

11 jurisdiction act. 

12 (b) PROHIBITION ON SPECIFIC FORMS OF COOPERA13 TION AND ASSISTANCE.—No agency or entity of the 

14 United States Government or of any State or local govern15 ment, including any court, may cooperate with, provide 

16 support (including financial support) for, or provide any 

17 other kind of assistance to any investigation or prosecu18 tion by a foreign government under a universal jurisdic19 tion act, including by—

20 (1) taking any action relating to—

21 (A) the arrest, extradition, or transit of 

22 suspects, or the provisional arrest of suspects; 

23 or 
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1 (B) the seizure of property, forfeiture of 

2 assets, execution of searches and seizures, serv3 ice of warrants, or other judicial process; 

4 (2) the taking, preservation, or transfer of any 

5 evidence or testimony; or 

6 (3) the analysis, sharing, or transfer of relevant 

7 information or intelligence. 

8 (d) RESTRICTION ON ASSISTANCE PURSUANT TO

9 MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE TREATIES.—The United 

10 States shall exercise its rights—

11 (1) under any treaty or executive agreement 

12 providing for mutual legal assistance in criminal 

13 matters, 

14 (2) under any multilateral convention with legal 

15 assistance provisions, 

16 (3) under any extradition treaty to which the 

17 United States is a party, or 

18 (4) in connection with the execution or issuance 

19 of any letter rogatory, 

20 to prevent the use of any assistance provided by the 

21 United States under such treaty, agreements, conventions, 

22 or letter rogatory in any investigation or prosecution 

23 under a universal jurisdiction act. 

24 (d) PROHIBITION ON INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES OF

25 AGENTS.—No agent of a foreign principal pursuing any
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1 investigation or prosecution under a universal jurisdiction 

2 act may conduct, in the United States or any territory 

3 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, any activ4 ity with respect to such investigation or prosecution that 

5 relates to a preliminary inquiry, investigation, prosecution, 

6 or other proceeding. 

7 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON DIRECT OR INDIRECT TRANSFER 

8 OF CERTAIN CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECU9 RITY INFORMATION. 

10 (a) DIRECT TRANSFER.—The President shall ensure 

11 that appropriate procedures are implemented to prevent 

12 the transfer to foreign judicial or prosecutorial authorities 

13 of classified national security information that is relevant 

14 to any investigation or prosecution under a universal juris15 diction act. 

16 (b) INDIRECT TRANSFER.—The President shall en17 sure that appropriate procedures are implemented to pre18 vent the transfer, to the government of any country that 

19 is cooperating with an investigation or prosecution under 

20 a universal jurisdiction act, of classified national security 

21 information that is relevant to matters under such inves22 tigation or prosecution by foreign judicial or prosecutorial 

23 authorities, unless that government has provided written 

24 assurances to the President that such information will not 
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1 be made available for any use in such investigation or 

2 prosecution. 

3 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—The provisions of this section 

4 shall not be construed to prohibit any action permitted 

5 under section 6. 

6 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO FREE MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

7 FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CER8 TAIN OTHER PERSONS HELD CAPTIVE FOR 

9 INVESTIGATION OR PROSECUTION UNDER A 

10 UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION ACT. 

11 (a) AUTHORITY.—The President may use all means 

12 necessary and appropriate to bring about the release from 

13 captivity of any person described in subsection (b) who 

14 is being detained or imprisoned against that person’s will 

15 by reason of any investigation or prosecution under a uni16 versal jurisdiction act with respect to actions undertaken 

17 by that person in an official capacity as a covered United 

18 States person or covered allied person, as the case may 

19 be. 

20 (b) PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO BE FREED.—The au21 thority of subsection (a) applies with respect to the fol22 lowing persons: 

23 (1) Any covered United States person. 

24 (2) Any covered allied person, if the government 

25 of the country by reason of which the individual is 
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1 a covered allied person requests that the authority 

2 under subsection (a) be exercised. 

3 (3) Any individual detained or imprisoned for 

4 official actions taken while the individual was—

5 (A) a covered United States person; or 

6 (B) a covered allied person, if the govern7 ment of the country by reason of which the in8 dividual is a covered allied person requests that 

9 the authority under subsection (a) be exercised.

10 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF LEGAL ASSISTANCE.—When 

11 any person described in subsection (b) is arrested, de12 tained, prosecuted, or imprisoned by reason of any inves13 tigation or prosecution under a universal jurisdiction act, 

14 the authority under subsection (a) may be used—

15 (1) for the provision of legal representation and 

16 other legal assistance to that person (including, in 

17 the case of a person entitled to assistance under sec18 tion 1037 of title 10, United States Code, represen19 tation and other assistance in the manner provided 

20 in that section); and 

21 (2) for the provision of exculpatory evidence on 

22 behalf of that person. 

23 (d) BRIBES AND OTHER INDUCEMENTS NOT AU24 THORIZED.—Subsection (a) does not authorize the provi-
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1 sion of financial incentives to secure the release from cap2 tivity of a person described in subsection (b). 

3 SEC. 7. ALLIANCE COMMAND ARRANGEMENTS. 

4 (a) REPORT ON ALLIANCE COMMAND ARRANGE5 MENTS.—Not later than 6 months after the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the 

7 appropriate congressional committees a report with re8 spect to each military alliance to which the United States 

9 is party—

10 (1) describing the degree to which members of 

11 the Armed Forces of the United States may, in the 

12 context of military operations undertaken by or pur13 suant to that alliance, be placed under the command 

14 or operational control of foreign military officers 

15 subject to a universal jurisdiction act because they 

16 are nationals of a country that has adopted a uni17 versal jurisdiction act; and 

18 (2) describing the degree to which members of 

19 the Armed Forces of the United States engaged in 

20 military operations undertaken by or pursuant to 

21 that alliance may be exposed to greater risks of in22 vestigation or prosecution under a universal jurisdic23 tion act as a result of being placed under the com24 mand or operational control of foreign military offi-
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1 cers subject to the jurisdiction of a universal juris2 diction act. 

3 (b) DESCRIPTION OF MEASURES TO ACHIEVE EN4 HANCED PROTECTION FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED

5 FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

7 shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees 

8 a description of modifications to command and operational 

9 control arrangements within military alliances to which 

10 the United States is a party that could be made in order 

11 to reduce any risks to members of the Armed Forces of 

12 the United States identified under subsection (a)(2). 

13 (c) SUBMISSION IN CLASSIFIED FORM.—The report 

14 under subsection (a), and the description of measures 

15 under subsection (b), or appropriate parts thereof, may 

16 be submitted in classified form. 

17 SEC. 8. WAIVER AND TERMINATION OF PROHIBITIONS OF 

18 THIS ACT. 

19 (a) AUTHORITY TO INITIALLY WAIVE SECTIONS 4 

20 AND 5.—The President may waive the prohibitions and 

21 requirements of sections 4 and 5 with respect to any coun22 try if the President, at least 15 days before exercising such 

23 waiver authority—
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1 (1) notifies the appropriate congressional com2 mittees of the intention to exercise such authority; 

3 and 

4 (2) determines and reports to the appropriate 

5 congressional committees that the government of 

6 that country and the United States have entered 

7 into a binding agreement that—

8 (A) prohibits application of the universal 

9 jurisdiction act over— 

10 (i) covered United States persons, 

11 (ii) covered allied persons, and 

12 (iii) individuals for acts done while 

13 they were covered United States persons or 

14 covered allied persons, 

15 with respect to actions undertaken by them in 

16 an official capacity, and 

17 (B) ensures that no person described in 

18 subparagraph (A) will be investigated, arrested, 

19 detained, prosecuted, or imprisoned by reason 

20 of any suit, investigation, or prosecution under 

21 the applicable universal jurisdiction act. 

22 (b) REPORTS.—

23 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The President 

24 shall, with respect to the government of each coun25 try with which the United States has entered into a 
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1 binding agreement under subsection (a)(2), deter2 mine and report to the appropriate congressional 

3 committees whether that government—

4 (A) remains party to, and has continued to 

5 abide by, that agreement; and 

6 (B) has taken no steps to investigate, ar7 rest, detain, prosecute, or imprison any person 

8 described in subsection (a)(2)(A) pursuant to 

9 the applicable universal jurisdiction act. 

10 (2) TIMING OF REPORTS.—Reports under para11 graph (1) shall be submitted—

12 (A) not later than 6 months after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act; and 

14 (B) not later than the end of each 1-year 

15 period thereafter. 

16 (c) TERMINATION OF WAIVER PURSUANT TO SUB17 SECTION (a).—Any waiver exercised under subsection (a) 

18 with respect to a country shall terminate if and when a 

19 report submitted under subsection (b) contains a deter20 mination by the President that the government of that 

21 country—

22 (1) is no longer a party to, or has not continued 

23 to abide by, the agreement with that government 

24 under subsection (a)(2); or 
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1 (2) has taken steps to investigate, arrest, de2 tain, prosecute, or imprison any person described in 

3 subsection (a)(2)(A) pursuant to the applicable uni4 versal jurisdiction act. 

5 SEC. 9. NONDELEGATION. 

6 The authorities vested in the President by section 8 

7 may not be delegated by the President pursuant to section 

8 301 of title 3, United States Code, or any other provision 

9 of law. 

10 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION ACT.—The term 

13 ‘‘universal jurisdiction act’’ means a statute of a for14 eign country that authorizes its judicial or prosecu15 torial authorities to investigate, prosecute, and pun16 ish genocide, war crimes, acts of torture, violations 

17 of human rights, or crimes against humanity that—

18 (A) at the time of their actual or alleged 

19 occurrence, were not committed by or against 

20 the citizens or residents of that country or their 

21 property; 

22 (B) did not occur on the territory of that 

23 country or territory under its control; or 

24 (C) are otherwise prosecutable by an ad 

25 hoc international criminal tribunal established 
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1 by the United Nations Security Council for the 

2 purpose of prosecuting such acts. 

3 (2) AGENT OF A FOREIGN PRINCIPAL.—The 

4 term ‘‘agent of a foreign principal’’ has the meaning 

5 given that term in section 1 of the Foreign Agents 

6 Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 

7 611). 

8 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means the Committee on International Re11 lations of the House of Representatives and the 

12 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

13 (4) CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMA14 TION.—The term ‘‘classified national security infor15 mation’’ means information that is classified or clas16 sifiable under Executive Order 12958 or a successor 

17 Executive order. 

18 (5) COVERED ALLIED PERSON.—The term 

19 ‘‘covered allied person’’ means any military per20 sonnel, elected or appointed official, or other person 

21 employed by or working on behalf of the government 

22 of a NATO member country, a major non-NATO 

23 ally, or Taiwan, for so long as that government has 

24 not adopted a universal jurisdiction act. 
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1 (6) COVERED UNITED STATES PERSON.—The 

2 term ‘‘covered United States person’’ means any 

3 member of the Armed Forces of the United States, 

4 any elected or appointed official of the United States 

5 Government, and any other person employed by or 

6 working on behalf of the United States Government. 

7 (7) MAJOR NON-NATO ALLY.—The term ‘‘major 

8 non-NATO ally’’ means a country that has been so 

9 designated in accordance with section 517 of the 

10 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

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