II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 905 

To require a report on, and to authorize technical assistance for, accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Syria, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2017 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CORKER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require a report on, and to authorize technical assistance 

for, accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Syria, and for other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Syrian War Crimes Accountability Act of 2017’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 


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Sec. 4. Definitions. 

Sec. 5. Report on accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and 

genocide in Syria. 

Sec. 6. Transitional justice study. 

Sec. 7. Technical assistance authorized. 

Sec. 8. State Department Rewards for Justice Program. 

Sec. 9. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab 

Republic. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) March 2017 marks the sixth year of the on4 going conflict in Syria. 

5 (2) As of February 2017— 

6 (A) more than 600,000 people are living 

7 under siege in Syria; 

8 (B) approximately 6,300,000 people are 

9 displaced from their homes inside Syria; and 

10 (C) approximately 4,900,000 Syrians have 

11 fled to neighboring countries as refugees. 

12 (3) Since the conflict in Syria began, the 

13 United States has provided more than 

14 $5,900,000,000 to meet humanitarian needs in 

15 Syria, making the United States the world’s single 

16 largest donor by far to the Syrian humanitarian re17 sponse. 

18 (4) In response to growing concerns over sys19 temic human rights violations in Syria, the Inde20 pendent International Commission of Inquiry on the 

21 Syrian Arab Republic (referred to in this section as 


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1 ‘‘COI’’) was established on August 22, 2011. The 

2 purpose of COI is to ‘‘investigate all alleged viola3 tions of international human rights law since March 

4 2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic, to establish the 

5 facts and circumstances that may amount to such 

6 violations and of the crimes perpetrated and, where 

7 possible, to identify those responsible with a view to 

8 ensuring that perpetrators of violations, including 

9 those that may constitute crimes against humanity, 

10 are held accountable’’. 

11 (5) On December 21, 2016, the United Nations 

12 General Assembly adopted a resolution to establish 

13 the International, Impartial and Independent Mech14 anism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution 

15 of Those Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes 

16 under International Law Committed in the Syrian 

17 Arab Republic since March 2011. 

18 (6) The 2016 United States Commission on 

19 International Religious Freedom Annual Report 

20 states that in Syria ‘‘[r]eports have emerged from 

21 all groups, including Muslims, Christians, Ismailis, 

22 and others, of gross human rights violations, includ23 ing beheading, rape, murder, torture of civilians and 

24 religious figures, and the destruction of mosques and 

25 churches.’’. 


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1 (7) On February 7, 2017, Amnesty Inter2 national reported that between 5,000 and 13,000 

3 people were extrajudicially executed in the Saydnaya 

4 Military Prison between September 2011 and De5 cember 2015. 

6 (8) In February 2017, COI released a report— 

7 (A) stating that a joint United Nations8 Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy in Orum al9 Kubra, Syria, was attacked by air on Sep10 tember 19, 2016; 

11 (B) explaining that the attack killed at 

12 least 14 civilian aid workers, injured at least 15 

13 others, and destroyed trucks, food, medicine, 

14 clothes, and other supplies; and 

15 (C) concluding that ‘‘the attack was me16 ticulously planned and ruthlessly carried out by 

17 the Syrian air force to purposefully hinder the 

18 delivery of humanitarian aid and target aid 

19 workers, constituting the war crimes of delib20 erately attacking humanitarian relief personnel, 

21 denial of humanitarian aid and targeting civil22 ians.’’. 

23 (9) On October 21, 2016, the Organization for 

24 the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Na25 tions Joint Investigative Mechanism transmitted its 


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1 fourth report, which concluded that the Syrian Arab 

2 Armed Forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and 

3 Syria (ISIS) have both used chemical weapons 

4 against villages in Syria. 

5 (10) On August 11, 2016, COI released a re6 port stating that certain offenses, including delib7 erately attacking hospitals, executions without due 

8 process, and the massive and systematized nature of 

9 deaths in state-controlled detention facilities in 

10 Syria, constitute war crimes and crimes against hu11 manity. 

12 (11) Physicians for Human Rights reported 

13 that, between March 2011 and the end of July 

14 2016, Syrian government and allied forces— 

15 (A) had committed 362 attacks on medical 

16 facilities (including through the use of indis17 criminate barrel bombs on at least 74 occa18 sions); and 

19 (B) had killed 768 medical personnel. 

20 (12) The Department of State’s 2016 Country 

21 Reports on Human Rights Practices— 

22 (A) details President Bashar al-Assad’s 

23 use of ‘‘indiscriminate and deadly force against 

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1 tary assaults on cities, residential areas, and ci2 vilian infrastructure’’; 

3 (B) explains that ‘‘these attacks included 

4 bombardment with improvised explosive devices, 

5 commonly referred to as ‘barrel bombs’ . . .’’; 

6 and 

7 (C) reports that ‘‘[t]he government [of 

8 Syria] continued the use of torture and rape, 

9 including of children’’. 

10 (13) On March 17, 2016, Secretary of State 

11 John Kerry stated: ‘‘In my judgment, Daesh is re12 sponsible for genocide against groups in areas under 

13 its control, including Yezidis, Christians, and Shia 

14 Muslims. . . . The United States will strongly sup15 port efforts to collect, document, preserve, and ana16 lyze the evidence of atrocities, and we will do all we 

17 can to see that the perpetrators are held account18 able.’’. 

19 (14) In February 2016, COI reported that— 

20 (A) ‘‘crimes against humanity continue to 

21 be committed by [Syrian] Government forces 

22 and by ISIS’’; 

23 (B) the Syrian government has ‘‘com24 mitted the crimes against humanity of extermi25 nation, murder, rape or other forms of sexual 


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1 violence, torture, imprisonment, enforce dis2 appearance and other inhuman acts’’; and 

3 (C) ‘‘[a]ccountability for these and other 

4 crimes must form part of any political solu5 tion’’. 

6 (15) Credible civil society organizations col7 lecting evidence of war crimes, crimes against hu8 manity, and genocide in Syria report that at least 12 

9 countries in western Europe and North America 

10 have requested assistance on investigating such 

11 crimes. 

12 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

13 Congress— 

14 (1) strongly condemns— 

15 (A) the ongoing violence, use of chemical 

16 weapons, targeting of civilian populations with 

17 barrel, incendiary, and cluster bombs and 

18 SCUD missiles, and systematic gross human 

19 rights violations carried out by the Government 

20 of Syria and pro-government forces under the 

21 direction of President Bashar al-Assad; and 

22 (B) all abuses committed by violent ex23 tremist groups and other combatants involved 

24 in the civil war in Syria; 


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1 (2) expresses its support for the people of Syria 

2 seeking democratic change; 

3 (3) urges all parties to the conflict— 

4 (A) to immediately halt indiscriminate at5 tacks on civilians; 

6 (B) to allow for the delivery of humani7 tarian and medical assistance; and 

8 (C) to end sieges of civilian populations; 

9 (4) calls on the President to support efforts in 

10 Syria, and on the part of the international commu11 nity, to ensure accountability for war crimes, crimes 

12 against humanity, and genocide committed during 

13 the conflict; and 

14 (5) supports the request in United Nations Se15 curity Council Resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 

16 (2014), and 2191 (2014) for the Secretary-General 

17 to regularly report to the Security Council on imple18 mentation on the resolutions, including of paragraph 

19 2 of Resolution 2139, which ‘‘demands that all par20 ties immediately put an end to all forms of violence 

21 [and] cease and desist from all violations of inter22 national humanitarian law and violations and abuses 

23 of human rights’’. 

24 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

5 the Senate; and 

6 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

7 the House of Representatives. 

8 (2) GENOCIDE.—The term ‘‘genocide’’ means 

9 any offense described in section 1091(a) of title 18, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (3) HYBRID TRIBUNAL.—The term ‘‘hybrid tri12 bunal’’ means a temporary criminal tribunal that in13 volves a combination of domestic and international 

14 lawyers, judges, and other professionals to prosecute 

15 individuals suspected of committing war crimes, 

16 crimes against humanity, or genocide. 

17 (4) TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘tran18 sitional justice’’ means the range of judicial, non19 judicial, formal, informal, retributive, and restorative 

20 measures employed by countries transitioning out of 

21 armed conflict or repressive regimes— 

22 (A) to redress legacies of atrocities; and 

23 (B) to promote long-term, sustainable 

24 peace. 


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1 (5) WAR CRIME.—The term ‘‘war crime’’ has 

2 the meaning given the term in section 2441(c) of 

3 title 18, United States Code. 

4 SEC. 5. REPORT ON ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WAR CRIMES, 

5 CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, AND GENOCIDE 

6 IN SYRIA. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall sub8 mit a report on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and 

9 genocide in Syria to the appropriate congressional commit10 tees not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act and another such report not later than 180 

12 days after the Secretary of State determines that the vio13 lence in Syria has ceased. 

14 (b) ELEMENTS.—The reports required under sub15 section (a) shall include— 

16 (1) a description of alleged war crimes, crimes 

17 against humanity, and genocide perpetrated during 

18 the civil war in Syria, including— 

19 (A) incidents that may constitute war 

20 crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide 

21 committed by the regime of President Bashar 

22 al-Assad and all forces fighting on its behalf; 

23 (B) incidents that may constitute war 

24 crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide 

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1 government forces, and any other combatants in 

2 the conflict; 

3 (C) any incidents that may violate the 

4 principle of medical neutrality and, if possible, 

5 the identification of the individual or individuals 

6 who engaged in or organized such incidents; 

7 and 

8 (D) if possible, a description of the conven9 tional and unconventional weapons used for 

10 such crimes and the origins of such weapons; 

11 and 

12 (2) a description and assessment by the Depart13 ment of State Office of Global Criminal Justice, the 

14 United States Agency for International Develop15 ment, the Department of Justice, and other appro16 priate agencies of programs that the United States 

17 Government has undertaken to ensure accountability 

18 for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and geno19 cide perpetrated against the people of Syria by the 

20 regime of President Bashar al-Assad, violent extrem21 ist groups, and other combatants involved in the 

22 conflict, including programs— 

23 (A) to train investigators within and out24 side of Syria on how to document, investigate, 

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1 leged perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against 

2 humanity, or genocide, including— 

3 (i) the number of United States Gov4 ernment or contract personnel currently 

5 designated to work full-time on these 

6 issues; and 

7 (ii) the identification of the authori8 ties and appropriations being used to sup9 port such training efforts; 

10 (B) to promote and prepare for a transi11 tional justice process or processes for the per12 petrators of war crimes, crimes against human13 ity, and genocide in Syria beginning in March 

14 2011; 

15 (C) to document, collect, preserve, and pro16 tect evidence of war crimes, crimes against hu17 manity, and genocide in Syria, including sup18 port for Syrian, foreign, and international non19 governmental organizations, and other entities, 

20 including the International, Impartial and Inde21 pendent Mechanism to Assist in the Investiga22 tion and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for 

23 the Most Serious Crimes under International 

24 Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic 

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1 national Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian 

2 Arab Republic; and 

3 (D) to assess the influence of account4 ability measures on efforts to reach a nego5 tiated settlement to the Syrian conflict during 

6 the reporting period. 

7 (c) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a) 

8 may be submitted in unclassified or classified form, but 

9 shall include a publicly available annex. 

10 (d) PROTECTION OF WITNESSES AND EVIDENCE.— 

11 The Secretary shall take due care to ensure that the iden12 tification of witnesses and physical evidence are not pub13 licly disclosed in a manner that might place such persons 

14 at risk of harm or encourage the destruction of evidence 

15 by the Government of Syria, violent extremist groups, 

16 anti-government forces, or any other combatants or par17 ticipants in the conflict. 

18 SEC. 6. TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE STUDY. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State (acting through 

21 appropriate officials and offices, which may include the 

22 Office of Global Criminal Justice), after consultation with 

23 the Department of Justice, the United States Agency for 

24 International Development, and other appropriate Federal 

25 agencies, shall— 


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1 (1) complete a study of the feasibility and desir2 ability of potential transitional justice mechanisms 

3 for Syria, including a hybrid tribunal, to address 

4 war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide 

5 perpetrated in Syria beginning in March 2011; and 

6 (2) submit a detailed report of the results of 

7 the study conducted under paragraph (1), including 

8 recommendations on which transitional justice mech9 anisms the United States Government should sup10 port, why such mechanisms should be supported, 

11 and what type of support should be offered, to— 

12 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

13 the Senate; 

14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

15 the House of Representatives; 

16 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

17 the Senate; and 

18 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

19 the House of Representatives. 

20 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State (acting 

22 through appropriate officials and offices, which may in23 clude the Office of Global Criminal Justice), after con24 sultation with the Department of Justice and other appro25 priate Federal agencies, is authorized to provide approVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Apr 18, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S905.IS S905

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1 priate assistance to support entities that, with respect to 

2 war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide per3 petrated by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, all 

4 forces fighting on its behalf, and violent extremist groups 

5 in Syria beginning in March 2011— 

6 (1) identify suspected perpetrators of war 

7 crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; 

8 (2) collect, document, and protect evidence of 

9 crimes and preserve the chain of custody for such 

10 evidence; 

11 (3) conduct criminal investigations; 

12 (4) build Syria’s investigative and judicial ca13 pacities and support prosecutions in the domestic 

14 courts of Syria, provided that President Bashar al15 Assad is no longer in power; 

16 (5) support investigations by third-party states, 

17 as appropriate; or 

18 (6) protect witnesses that may be helpful to 

19 prosecutions or other transitional justice mecha20 nisms. 

21 (b) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

22 State, after consultation with appropriate Federal agen23 cies and the appropriate congressional committees, and 

24 taking into account the findings of the transitional justice 

25 study required under section 6, is authorized to provide 


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1 assistance to support the creation and operation of transi2 tional justice mechanisms, including a potential hybrid tri3 bunal, to prosecute individuals suspected of committing 

4 war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in Syria 

5 beginning in March 2011. 

6 (c) BRIEFING.—The Secretary of State shall provide 

7 detailed, biannual briefings to the appropriate congres8 sional committees describing the assistance provided to en9 tities described in subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 8. STATE DEPARTMENT REWARDS FOR JUSTICE PRO11 GRAM. 

12 Section 36(b)(10) of the State Department Basic Au13 thorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(b)(10)) is amended 

14 by inserting ‘‘(including war crimes, crimes against hu15 manity, or genocide committed in Syria beginning in 

16 March 2011)’’ after ‘‘genocide’’. 

17 SEC. 9. INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF 

18 INQUIRY ON THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC. 

19 The Secretary of State, acting through the United 

20 States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 

21 should use the voice, vote, and influence of the United 

22 States at the United Nations to advocate that the United 

23 Nations Human Rights Council, while the United States 

24 remains a member, annually extend the mandate of the 

25 Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the 


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1 Syrian Arab Republic until the Commission has completed 

2 its investigation of all alleged violations of international 

3 human rights laws beginning in March 2011 in the Syrian 

4 Arab Republic. 

Æ 


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