I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2033 

To provide for medical neutrality and to establish accountability for violations 

of the principle of medical neutrality, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2013 

Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. JOHNSON

of Georgia, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. ELLISON, and Mr. JONES) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for medical neutrality and to establish accountability for violations of the principle of medical neutrality, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medical Neutrality 

5 Protection Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) International humanitarian law codifies the 

2 principle of medical neutrality in the Geneva Con3 ventions, to which the United States is a signatory, 

4 during times of national or international armed con5 flict, which offer special protections to medical facili6 ties and personnel. These provisions recognize ambu7 lances, hospitals, hospital ships, the personnel serv8 ing in ambulances and hospitals, citizens who assist 

9 the wounded as neutral and protected during con10 flict. 

11 (2) The Geneva Conventions specify that the 

12 wounded and sick shall receive adequate care, be 

13 protected from ill-treatment, and be protected from 

14 discrimination, and that emblems such as the red 

15 cross and red crescent are recognized as protective 

16 emblems in conflict. Many parts of the Geneva Con17 ventions have been declared by the International 

18 Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC) to be cus19 tomary international humanitarian law. 

20 (b) STATEMENT OF CONGRESS.—Congress affirms 

21 its support of participants of peaceful demonstrations 

22 around the world, as part of the United States support 

23 for freedom of assembly as enshrined in the United States 

24 Constitution. The United States takes particular umbrage 


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1 at countries that harm or endanger medical professionals 

2 during times of unrest. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

9 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

10 of Representatives; and 

11 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

12 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

13 Senate. 

14 (2) MEDICAL NEUTRALITY.—Until such time as 

15 there is a binding, internationally recognized defini16 tion of the term ‘‘medical neutrality’’, such term re17 fers to— 

18 (A) the protected status of health care fa19 cilities, personnel, transport, and supplies in 

20 times of national and international armed con21 flict and civil unrest; 

22 (B) the protection of unhindered access of 

23 the sick and injured to nondiscriminatory med24 ical care and treatment; and 


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1 (C) the understanding that all medical pro2 fessionals are required to treat in a nondiscrim3 inatory manner any individual in need of care, 

4 and the responsibility of governments not to 

5 interfere with such professional duty. 

6 (3) VIOLATION OF MEDICAL NEUTRALITY.—The 

7 term ‘‘violation of medical neutrality’’ includes gov8 ernment-sanctioned actions, and actions which are 

9 not authorized by a government policy but are not 

10 independently investigated, including— 

11 (A) militarized attacks on health care fa12 cilities, health care service providers, or individ13 uals in the course of receiving medical treat14 ment; 

15 (B) wanton destruction of medical sup16 plies, facilities, records, or transportation serv17 ices; 

18 (C) willful obstruction of medical ethics as 

19 specified in the World Medical Association’s 

20 International Code of Medical Ethics, including 

21 preventing medical professionals from admin22 istering ethical medical care to individuals in 

23 need; 


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1 (D) coercion of medical personnel to com2 mit acts in violation of their ethical responsibil3 ities; 

4 (E) deliberate misuse of health care facili5 ties, transportation services, uniforms, or other 

6 insignia; 

7 (F) deliberate blocking of access to health 

8 care facilities and health care professionals; or 

9 (G) arbitrary arrest or detention of health 

10 care service providers or individuals seeking 

11 medical care. 

12 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

13 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent or 

14 interfere with legitimate law enforcement objectives con15 ducted in accordance with recognized international human 

16 rights norms and legal standards. 

17 SEC. 5. STATEMENTS OF POLICY. 

18 It shall be the policy of the United States to— 

19 (1) consider the protection of medical neutrality 

20 a policy priority of the United States as an integral 

21 part of the defense of recognized international 

22 human rights law and international humanitarian 

23 law; 

24 (2) use its voice, vote, and influence in inter25 national fora to further define and codify the prinVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:29 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2033.IH H2033

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1 ciple of medical neutrality and to establish account2 ability for violations of the principle of medical neu3 trality; and 

4 (3) use its voice, vote, and influence at the 

5 United Nations Human Rights Council to create and 

6 appoint a Special Rapporteur on the Protection and 

7 Promotion of Medical Neutrality. 

8 SEC. 6. DETERMINATION AND NOTIFICATION OF FOREIGN 

9 COUNTRY REQUIRED. 

10 (a) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 180 days after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

12 State shall compile and update at least annually a list of 

13 those foreign governments that the Secretary determines, 

14 after consultation with local and international nongovern15 mental organizations and the Assistant Secretary for De16 mocracy, Human Rights and Labor, have engaged in vio17 lations of medical neutrality. The Secretary shall publish 

18 such list on the website of the Department of State. 

19 (b) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of State shall 

20 provide a formal notification to a foreign government that 

21 is included on a list described in subsection (a). 

22 SEC. 7. PROHIBITIONS. 

23 (a) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ASSISTANCE.—Sub24 ject to subsection (c) of this section and section 9, and 

25 except as provided in section 8, the authorities specified 


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1 in section 516 or 541 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

2 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j or 2347) or section 23 of the Arms 

3 Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763) may not be used 

4 to provide assistance, and no licenses for direct commer5 cial sales of military equipment may be issued, to the gov6 ernment of a country that the Secretary of State has, in 

7 accordance with section 6 of this Act, determined to have 

8 engaged in a violation of medical neutrality. 

9 (b) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN VISAS.—Except as 

10 provided in section 8, upon receiving credible information, 

11 including information contained in the Annual Country 

12 Reports on Human Rights Practices, that an alien is or 

13 was engaged in or has organized any act that is a violation 

14 of medical neutrality, the Secretary of State shall deny 

15 the issuance of a visa to, and the Secretary of Homeland 

16 Security shall deny the entry into the United States of, 

17 such alien. 

18 (c) MINIMUM DURATION.—The prohibitions on as19 sistance described in subsection (a) shall remain in effect 

20 for a minimum of one fiscal year, after which the Presi21 dent may reinstate such assistance pursuant to section 9. 

22 SEC. 8. WAIVER. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President may temporarily 

24 waive the prohibitions on assistance described in section 


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1 7(a) if the President transmits to the appropriate congres2 sional committees a determination that— 

3 (1) such waiver is in the national security inter4 est of the United States, including the reasons 

5 therefor; and 

6 (2) establishes a date, not later than two years 

7 after the issuance of such waiver, on which such 

8 waiver shall expire. 

9 (b) CONGRESSIONAL OVERRIDE.—If Congress enacts 

10 a joint resolution disapproving such waiver, such waiver 

11 shall have no force or effect. 

12 SEC. 9. REINSTATEMENT OF ASSISTANCE. 

13 The President may reinstate assistance to a country 

14 otherwise prohibited under section 7(a) upon written cer15 tification to the appropriate congressional committees that 

16 the government of such country has implemented— 

17 (1) measures that include the successful imple18 mentation of an action plan and actual steps to 

19 come into compliance with medical neutrality; and 

20 (2) policies and mechanisms to prohibit and 

21 prevent future government or government-sponsored 

22 acts that are a violation of medical neutrality and 

23 has the input and agreement of local and inter24 national nongovernmental organizations. 


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1 SEC. 10. INVESTIGATIONS OF VIOLATIONS OF MEDICAL 

2 NEUTRALITY. 

3 (a) INVESTIGATIONS OF ALLEGATIONS OF VIOLA4 TIONS OF MEDICAL NEUTRALITY.—The heads of United 

5 States diplomatic and consular missions shall investigate 

6 all reports of violations of medical neutrality in the coun7 tries or regions in which such missions are located for in8 clusion in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights 

9 Practices under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the For10 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n and 2304). 

11 (b) INCLUSION IN ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON

12 HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.—The Foreign Assistance 

13 Act of 1961 is amended— 

14 (1) in section 116 (22 U.S.C. 2151n), by add15 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(g) The report required under subsection (d) shall 

17 include a description of any violations of medical neu18 trality (as such term is defined in the Medical Neutrality 

19 Protection Act of 2013) and an identification of the indi20 viduals who have engaged in or organized such violations 

21 in each foreign country covered by such report.’’; and 

22 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by add23 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(j) The report required by subsection (b) shall in25 clude a description of any violations of medical neutrality 

26 (as such term is defined in the Medical Neutrality ProtecVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:29 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2033.IH H2033

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1 tion Act of 2013) and an identification of the individuals 

2 who have engaged in or organized such violations in each 

3 foreign country covered by such report.’’. 

Æ 


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