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Calendar No. 134 

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, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. COONS, Mr. KAINE, Ms. 

WARREN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. PETERS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BENNET, Mr. 

BROWN, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JUNE 12, 2017 

Reported by Mr. CORKER, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

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

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

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

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. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) March 2017 marks the sixth year of the on9 going conflict in Syria. 

10 (2) As of February 2017— 

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

12 under siege in Syria; 

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

14 displaced from their homes inside Syria; and 

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

16 fled to neighboring countries as refugees. 

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

18 United States has provided more than 

19 $5,900,000,000 to meet humanitarian needs in 

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


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1 largest donor by far to the Syrian humanitarian re2 sponse. 

3 (4) In response to growing concerns over sys4 temic human rights violations in Syria, the Inde5 pendent International Commission of Inquiry on the 

6 Syrian Arab Republic (referred to in this section as 

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

8 purpose of COI is to ‘‘investigate all alleged viola9 tions of international human rights law since March 

10 2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic, to establish the 

11 facts and circumstances that may amount to such 

12 violations and of the crimes perpetrated and, where 

13 possible, to identify those responsible with a view to 

14 ensuring that perpetrators of violations, including 

15 those that may constitute crimes against humanity, 

16 are held accountable’’. 

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

18 General Assembly adopted a resolution to establish 

19 the International, Impartial and Independent Mech20 anism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution 

21 of Those Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes 

22 under International Law Committed in the Syrian 

23 Arab Republic since March 2011. 

24 (6) The 2016 United States Commission on 

25 International Religious Freedom Annual Report 


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

2 all groups, including Muslims, Christians, Ismailis, 

3 and others, of gross human rights violations, includ4 ing beheading, rape, murder, torture of civilians and 

5 religious figures, and the destruction of mosques and 

6 churches.’’. 

7 (7) On February 7, 2017, Amnesty Inter8 national reported that between 5,000 and 13,000 

9 people were extrajudicially executed in the Saydnaya 

10 Military Prison between September 2011 and De11 cember 2015. 

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

13 (A) stating that a joint United Nations14 Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy in Orum al15 Kubra, Syria, was attacked by air on Sep16 tember 19, 2016; 

17 (B) explaining that the attack killed at 

18 least 14 civilian aid workers, injured at least 15 

19 others, and destroyed trucks, food, medicine, 

20 clothes, and other supplies; and 

21 (C) concluding that ‘‘the attack was me22 ticulously planned and ruthlessly carried out by 

23 the Syrian air force to purposefully hinder the 

24 delivery of humanitarian aid and target aid 

25 workers, constituting the war crimes of delibVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Jun 13, 2017 Jkt 069000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S905.RS S905

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1 erately attacking humanitarian relief personnel, 

2 denial of humanitarian aid and targeting civil3 ians.’’. 

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

5 the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-United Na6 tions Joint Investigative Mechanism transmitted its 

7 fourth report, which concluded that the Syrian Arab 

8 Armed Forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and 

9 Syria (ISIS) have both used chemical weapons 

10 against villages in Syria. 

11 (10) On August 11, 2016, COI released a re12 port stating that certain offenses, including delib13 erately attacking hospitals, executions without due 

14 process, and the massive and systematized nature of 

15 deaths in state-controlled detention facilities in 

16 Syria, constitute war crimes and crimes against hu17 manity. 

18 (11) Physicians for Human Rights reported 

19 that, between March 2011 and the end of July 

20 2016, Syrian government and allied forces— 

21 (A) had committed 362 attacks on medical 

22 facilities (including through the use of indis23 criminate barrel bombs on at least 74 occa24 sions); and 

25 (B) had killed 768 medical personnel. 


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1 (11) Physicians for Human Rights reported that, 

2 between March 2011 and the end of December 2016, 

3 Syrian government and allied forces— 

4 (A) had committed 412 attacks on medical 

5 facilities (including through the use of indis6 criminate barrel bombs on at least 80 occasions); 

7 and 

8 (B) had killed 735 medical personnel. 

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

10 Reports on Human Rights Practices— 

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

12 use of ‘‘indiscriminate and deadly force against 

13 civilians, conducting air and ground-based mili14 tary assaults on cities, residential areas, and ci15 vilian infrastructure’’; 

16 (B) explains that ‘‘these attacks included 

17 bombardment with improvised explosive devices, 

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

19 and 

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

21 Syria] continued the use of torture and rape, 

22 including of children’’. 

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

24 John Kerry stated: ‘‘In my judgment, Daesh is re25 sponsible for genocide against groups in areas under 


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1 its control, including Yezidis, Christians, and Shia 

2 Muslims. . . . The United States will strongly sup3 port efforts to collect, document, preserve, and ana4 lyze the evidence of atrocities, and we will do all we 

5 can to see that the perpetrators are held account6 able.’’. 

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

8 (A) ‘‘crimes against humanity continue to 

9 be committed by [Syrian] Government forces 

10 and by ISIS’’; 

11 (B) the Syrian government has ‘‘com12 mitted the crimes against humanity of extermi13 nation, murder, rape or other forms of sexual 

14 violence, torture, imprisonment, enforce dis15 appearance and other inhuman acts’’; and 

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

17 crimes must form part of any political solu18 tion’’. 

19 (15) Credible civil society organizations col20 lecting evidence of war crimes, crimes against hu21 manity, and genocide in Syria report that at least 12 

22 countries in western Europe and North America 

23 have requested assistance on investigating such 

24 crimes. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 Congress— 

3 (1) strongly condemns— 

4 (A) the ongoing violence, use of chemical 

5 weapons, targeting of civilian populations with 

6 barrel, incendiary, and cluster bombs and 

7 SCUD missiles, and systematic gross human 

8 rights violations carried out by the Government 

9 of Syria and pro-government forces under the 

10 direction of President Bashar al-Assad; and 

11 (B) all abuses committed by violent ex12 tremist groups and other combatants involved 

13 in the civil war in Syria; 

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

15 seeking democratic change; 

16 (3) urges all parties to the conflict— 

17 (A) to immediately halt indiscriminate at18 tacks on civilians; 

19 (B) to allow for the delivery of humani20 tarian and medical assistance; and 

21 (C) to end sieges of civilian populations; 

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

23 Syria, and on the part of the international commu24 nity, to ensure accountability for war crimes, crimes 

25 against humanity, and genocide committed during 

26 the conflict; and 


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1 (5) supports the request in United Nations Se2 curity Council Resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 

3 (2014), and 2191 (2014) for the Secretary-General 

4 to regularly report to the Security Council on imple5 mentation on the resolutions, including of paragraph 

6 2 of Resolution 2139, which ‘‘demands that all par7 ties immediately put an end to all forms of violence 

8 [and] cease and desist from all violations of inter9 national humanitarian law and violations and abuses 

10 of human rights’’. 

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT14 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com15 mittees’’ means— 

16 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

17 the Senate; and 

18 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

19 the House of Representatives. 

20 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

21 Senate; 

22 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

23 House of Representatives; and 

24 (D) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

25 House of Representatives. 


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

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

3 United States Code. 

4 (3) HYBRID TRIBUNAL.—The term ‘‘hybrid tri5 bunal’’ means a temporary criminal tribunal that in6 volves a combination of domestic and international 

7 lawyers, judges, and other professionals to prosecute 

8 individuals suspected of committing war crimes, 

9 crimes against humanity, or genocide. 

10 (4) TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘tran11 sitional justice’’ means the range of judicial, non12 judicial, formal, informal, retributive, and restorative 

13 measures employed by countries transitioning out of 

14 armed conflict or repressive regimes— 

15 (A) to redress legacies of atrocities; and 

16 (B) to promote long-term, sustainable 

17 peace. 

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

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

20 title 18, United States Code. 

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

22 CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, AND GENOCIDE 

23 IN SYRIA. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall sub25 mit a report on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and 


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1 genocide in Syria to the appropriate congressional commit2 tees not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

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

4 days after the Secretary of State determines that the vio5 lence in Syria has ceased. 

6 (b) ELEMENTS.—The reports required under sub7 section (a) shall include— 

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

9 against humanity, and genocide perpetrated during 

10 the civil war in Syria, including— 

11 (A) incidents that may constitute war 

12 crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide 

13 committed by the regime of President Bashar 

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

15 (B) incidents that may constitute war 

16 crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide 

17 committed by violent extremist groups, anti18 government forces, and any other combatants in 

19 the conflict; 

20 (C) any incidents that may violate the 

21 principle of medical neutrality and, if possible, 

22 the identification of the individual or individuals 

23 who engaged in or organized such incidents; 

24 and 


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1 (D) if possible, a description of the conven2 tional and unconventional weapons used for 

3 such crimes and the origins of such weapons; 

4 and 

5 (2) a description and assessment by the Depart6 ment of State Office of Global Criminal Justice, the 

7 United States Agency for International Develop8 ment, the Department of Justice, and other appro9 priate agencies of programs that the United States 

10 Government has undertaken to ensure accountability 

11 for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and geno12 cide perpetrated against the people of Syria by the 

13 regime of President Bashar al-Assad, violent extrem14 ist groups, and other combatants involved in the 

15 conflict, including programs— 

16 (A) to train investigators within and out17 side of Syria on how to document, investigate, 

18 develop findings of, and identify and locate al19 leged perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against 

20 humanity, or genocide, including— 

21 (i) the number of United States Gov22 ernment or contract personnel currently 

23 designated to work full-time on these 

24 issues; and 


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1 (ii) the identification of the authori2 ties and appropriations being used to sup3 port such training efforts; 

4 (B) to promote and prepare for a transi5 tional justice process or processes for the per6 petrators of war crimes, crimes against human7 ity, and genocide in Syria beginning in March 

8 2011; 

9 (C) to document, collect, preserve, and pro10 tect evidence of war crimes, crimes against hu11 manity, and genocide in Syria, including sup12 port for Syrian, foreign, and international non13 governmental organizations, and other entities, 

14 including the International, Impartial and Inde15 pendent Mechanism to Assist in the Investiga16 tion and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for 

17 the Most Serious Crimes under International 

18 Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic 

19 since March 2011 and the Independent Inter20 national Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian 

21 Arab Republic; and 

22 (D) to assess the influence of account23 ability measures on efforts to reach a nego24 tiated settlement to the Syrian conflict during 

25 the reporting period. 


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

2 may be submitted in unclassified or classified form, but 

3 shall include a publicly available annex. 

4 (d) PROTECTION OF WITNESSES AND EVIDENCE.— 

5 The Secretary shall take due care to ensure that the iden6 tification of witnesses and physical evidence are not pub7 licly disclosed in a manner that might place such persons 

8 at risk of harm or encourage the destruction of evidence 

9 by the Government of Syria, violent extremist groups, 

10 anti-government forces, or any other combatants or par11 ticipants in the conflict. 

12 SEC. 6. TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE STUDY. 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State (acting through 

15 appropriate officials and offices, which may include the 

16 Office of Global Criminal Justice), after consultation with 

17 the Department of Justice, the United States Agency for 

18 International Development, and other appropriate Federal 

19 agencies, shall— 

20 (1) complete a study of the feasibility and desir21 ability of potential transitional justice mechanisms 

22 for Syria, including a hybrid tribunal, to address 

23 war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide 

24 perpetrated in Syria beginning in March 2011; and 


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

2 the study conducted under paragraph (1), including 

3 recommendations on which transitional justice mech4 anisms the United States Government should sup5 port, why such mechanisms should be supported, 

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

7 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

8 the Senate; 

9 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

10 the House of Representatives; 

11 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

12 the Senate; and 

13 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

14 the House of Representatives. 

15 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED. 

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

17 through appropriate officials and offices, which may in18 clude the Office of Global Criminal Justice), after con19 sultation with the Department of Justice and other appro20 priate Federal agencies, is authorized to provide appro21 priate assistance to support entities that, with respect to 

22 war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide per23 petrated by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, all 

24 forces fighting on its behalf, and all non-state armed 


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1 groups fighting in the country, including violent extremist 

2 groups in Syria beginning in March 2011— 

3 (1) identify suspected perpetrators of war 

4 crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; 

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

6 crimes and preserve the chain of custody for such 

7 evidence; 

8 (3) conduct criminal investigations; 

9 (4) build Syria’s investigative and judicial ca10 pacities and support prosecutions in the domestic 

11 courts of Syria, provided that President Bashar al12 Assad is no longer in power; 

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

14 as appropriate; or 

15 (6) protect witnesses that may be helpful to 

16 prosecutions or other transitional justice mecha17 nisms. 

18 (b) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

19 State, after consultation with appropriate Federal agen20 cies and the appropriate congressional committees, and 

21 taking into account the findings of the transitional justice 

22 study required under section 6, is authorized to provide 

23 assistance to support the creation and operation of transi24 tional justice mechanisms, including a potential hybrid tri25 bunal, to prosecute individuals suspected of committing 


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

2 beginning in March 2011. 

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

4 detailed, biannual briefings to the appropriate congres5 sional committees describing the assistance provided to en6 tities described in subsection (a). 

7 SEC. 8. STATE DEPARTMENT REWARDS FOR JUSTICE PRO8 GRAM. 

9 Section 36(b)(10) of the State Department Basic Au10 thorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(b)(10)) is amended 

11 by inserting ‘‘(including war crimes, crimes against hu12 manity, or genocide committed in Syria beginning in 

13 March 2011)’’ after ‘‘genocide’’. 

14 SEC. 9. INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF 

15 INQUIRY ON THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC. 

16 The Secretary of State, acting through the United 

17 States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 

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

19 States at the United Nations to advocate that the United 

20 Nations Human Rights Council, while the United States 

21 remains a member, annually extend the mandate of the 

22 Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the 

23 Syrian Arab Republic until the Commission has completed 

24 its investigation of all alleged violations of international 


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1 human rights laws beginning in March 2011 in the Syrian 

2 Arab Republic. 


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Calendar No. 134 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 905 

A BILL 

To require a report on, and to authorize technical 

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

JUNE 12, 2017 

Reported with amendments 


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