II 

Calendar No. 474 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1346 

To penalize crimes against humanity, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2009 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. CARDIN, and Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

JULY 21, 2010 

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To penalize crimes against humanity, 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 ‘‘Crimes Against Hu5 manity Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMAN2 ITY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part 1 of title 18, United States 

4 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 25 the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘CHAPTER 25A—CRIMES AGAINST 

7 HUMANITY 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘519. Crimes against humanity. 

8 ‘‘§ 519. Crimes against humanity 

9 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 

10 to commit or engage in, as part of a widespread and sys11 tematic attack directed against any civilian population, 

12 and with knowledge of the attack— 

13 ‘‘(1) conduct that, if it occurred in the United 

14 States, would violate— 

15 ‘‘(A) section 1111 of this title (relating to 

16 murder); 

17 ‘‘(B) section 1581(a) of this title (relating 

18 to peonage); 

19 ‘‘(C) section 1583(a)(1) of this title (relat20 ing to kidnapping or carrying away individuals 

21 for involuntary servitude or slavery); 

22 ‘‘(D) section 1584(a) of this title (relating 

23 to sale into involuntary servitude); 


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1 ‘‘(E) section 1589(a) of this title (relating 

2 to forced labor); or 

3 ‘‘(F) section 1590(a) of this title (relating 

4 to trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, 

5 involuntary servitude, or forced labor); 

6 ‘‘(2) conduct that, if it occurred in the special 

7 maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United 

8 States, would violate— 

9 ‘‘(A) section 1591(a) of this title (relating 

10 to sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, 

11 or coercion); 

12 ‘‘(B) section 2241(a) of this title (relating 

13 to aggravated sexual abuse by force or threat); 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(C) section 2242 of this title (relating to 

16 sexual abuse); 

17 ‘‘(3) conduct that, if it occurred in the special 

18 maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United 

19 States, and without regard to whether the offender 

20 is the parent of the victim, would violate section 

21 1201(a) of this title (relating to kidnapping); 

22 ‘‘(4) conduct that, if it occurred in the United 

23 States, would violate section 1203(a) of this title (re24 lating to hostage taking), notwithstanding any ex25 ception under subsection (b) of section 1203; 


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1 ‘‘(5) conduct that would violate section 2340A 

2 of this title (relating to torture); 

3 ‘‘(6) extermination; 

4 ‘‘(7) national, ethnic, racial, or religious cleans5 ing; 

6 ‘‘(8) arbitrary detention; or 

7 ‘‘(9) imposed measures intended to prevent 

8 births. 

9 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

10 (a), or attempts or conspires to violate subsection (a)— 

11 ‘‘(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 

12 not more than 20 years, or both; and 

13 ‘‘(2) if the death of any person results from the 

14 violation of subsection (a), shall be fined under this 

15 title and imprisoned for any term of years or for life. 

16 ‘‘(c) JURISDICTION.—There is jurisdiction over a vio17 lation of subsection (a), and any attempt or conspiracy 

18 to commit a violation of subsection (a), if— 

19 ‘‘(1) the alleged offender is a national of the 

20 United States or an alien lawfully admitted for per21 manent residence; 

22 ‘‘(2) the alleged offender is a stateless person 

23 whose habitual residence is in the United States; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the alleged offender is present in the 

2 United States, regardless of the nationality of the al3 leged offender; or 

4 ‘‘(4) the offense is committed in whole or in 

5 part within the United States. 

6 ‘‘(d) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN LIMITA7 TIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3282 of this title, in the 

8 case of an offense under this section, an indictment may 

9 be found, or information instituted, at any time without 

10 limitation. 

11 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) ARBITRARY DETENTION.—The term ‘arbi13 trary detention’ means imprisonment or other severe 

14 deprivation of physical liberty except on such 

15 grounds and in accordance with such procedure as 

16 are established by the law of the jurisdiction where 

17 such imprisonment or other severe deprivation of 

18 physical liberty took place. 

19 ‘‘(2) ARMED GROUP.—The term ‘armed group’ 

20 means any army, militia, or other military organiza21 tion, whether or not it is State-sponsored, excluding 

22 any group assembled solely for nonviolent political 

23 association. 

24 ‘‘(3) ATTACK DIRECTED AGAINST ANY CIVILIAN

25 POPULATION.—The term ‘attack directed against 


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1 any civilian population’ means a course of conduct 

2 in which a civilian population is a primary rather 

3 than an incidental target. 

4 ‘‘(4) ETHNIC GROUP; NATIONAL GROUP; RACIAL

5 GROUP; RELIGIOUS GROUP.—The terms ‘ethnic 

6 group’, ‘national group’, ‘racial group’, and ‘religious 

7 group’ have the meanings given those terms in sec8 tion 1093 of this title. 

9 ‘‘(5) EXTERMINATION.—The term ‘extermi10 nation’ means subjecting a civilian population to 

11 conditions of life that are intended to cause the 

12 physical destruction of the group in whole or in part. 

13 ‘‘(6) LAWFULLY ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT

14 RESIDENCE; NATIONAL OF THE UNITED STATES.— 

15 The terms ‘lawfully admitted for permanent resi16 dence’ and ‘national of the United States’ have the 

17 meanings give those terms in section 101(a) of the 

18 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

19 1101(a)). 

20 ‘‘(7) NATIONAL, ETHNIC, RACIAL, OR RELI21 GIOUS CLEANSING.—The term ‘national, ethnic, ra22 cial, or religious cleansing’ means the intentional 

23 and forced displacement from 1 country to another 

24 or within a country of any national group, ethnic 

25 group, racial group, or religious group in whole or 


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1 in part, by expulsion or other coercive acts from the 

2 area in which they are lawfully present, except when 

3 the displacement is in accordance with applicable 

4 laws of armed conflict that permit involuntary and 

5 temporary displacement of a population to ensure its 

6 security or when imperative military reasons so de7 mand. 

8 ‘‘(8) SYSTEMATIC.—The term ‘systematic’ 

9 means pursuant to or in furtherance of the policy of 

10 a State or armed group. 

11 ‘‘(9) WIDESPREAD.—The term ‘widespread’ 

12 means involving multiple victims.’’. 

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

14 for part 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 

15 inserting after the item relating to chapter 25 the fol16 lowing: 

‘‘25A. Crimes against humanity ............................................................... 519’’. 

17 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Crimes Against Human19 ity Act of 2010’’. 

20 SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part 1 of title 18, United States 

22 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 25 the fol23 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 25A—CRIMES AGAINST 

2 HUMANITY 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘519. Crimes against humanity. 

3 ‘‘§ 519. Crimes against humanity 

4 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 

5 to commit or engage in, as part of a widespread and sys6 tematic attack directed against any civilian population, 

7 and with knowledge of the attack— 

8 ‘‘(1) conduct that, if it occurred in the United 

9 States, would violate— 

10 ‘‘(A) section 1581(a) of this title (relating to 

11 peonage); 

12 ‘‘(B) section 1583(a)(1) of this title (relat13 ing to kidnapping or carrying away individuals 

14 for involuntary servitude or slavery); 

15 ‘‘(C) section 1584(a) of this title (relating to 

16 sale into involuntary servitude); 

17 ‘‘(D) section 1589(a) of this title (relating 

18 to forced labor); or 

19 ‘‘(E) section 1590(a) of this title (relating to 

20 trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, in21 voluntary servitude, or forced labor); 

22 ‘‘(2) conduct that, if it occurred in the special 

23 maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United 

24 States, would violate— 


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1 ‘‘(A) section 1111 of this title (relating to 

2 murder); 

3 ‘‘(B) section 1591(a) of this title (relating to 

4 sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or 

5 coercion); 

6 ‘‘(C) section 2241(a) of this title (relating to 

7 aggravated sexual abuse by force or threat); or 

8 ‘‘(D) section 2242 of this title (relating to 

9 sexual abuse); 

10 ‘‘(3) conduct that, if it occurred in the special 

11 maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United 

12 States, and without regard to whether the offender is 

13 the parent of the victim, would violate section 1201(a) 

14 of this title (relating to kidnapping); 

15 ‘‘(4) conduct that, if it occurred in the United 

16 States, would violate section 1203(a) of this title (re17 lating to hostage taking), notwithstanding any excep18 tion under subsection (b) of section 1203; 

19 ‘‘(5) conduct that would violate section 2340A of 

20 this title (relating to torture); 

21 ‘‘(6) extermination; 

22 ‘‘(7) national, ethnic, racial, or religious cleans23 ing; or 

24 ‘‘(8) imposed measures intended to prevent 

25 births. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

2 (a), or attempts or conspires to violate subsection (a)— 

3 ‘‘(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 

4 not more than 20 years, or both; and 

5 ‘‘(2) if the death of any person results from the 

6 violation of subsection (a), shall be fined under this 

7 title and imprisoned for any term of years or for life. 

8 ‘‘(c) JURISDICTION.—There is jurisdiction over a vio9 lation of subsection (a), and any attempt or conspiracy to 

10 commit a violation of subsection (a), if— 

11 ‘‘(1) the alleged offender is a national of the 

12 United States or an alien residing in the United 

13 States, regardless of whether the alien is lawfully ad14 mitted for permanent residence; 

15 ‘‘(2) the alleged offender is a stateless person 

16 whose habitual residence is in the United States; or 

17 ‘‘(3) the offense is committed in whole or in part 

18 within the United States. 

19 ‘‘(d) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN LIMITATIONS.— 

20 Notwithstanding section 3282 of this title, in the case of 

21 an offense under this section, an indictment may be found, 

22 or information instituted, at any time without limitation. 

23 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON PROSECUTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A prosecution for an offense 

2 described in this section may not be undertaken by 

3 the United States unless— 

4 ‘‘(A) the Attorney General certifies in writ5 ing— 

6 ‘‘(i) after consultation with the Sec7 retary of State and the Secretary of Home8 land Security, that there is no foreign juris9 diction that is prepared to undertake a 

10 prosecution for the conduct that forms the 

11 basis for the offense; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) that a prosecution by the United 

13 States is in the public interest and nec14 essary to secure substantial justice; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 

16 Defense, and the Director of National Intel17 ligence do not object to the prosecution. 

18 ‘‘(2) NONDELEGATION.—The certification under 

19 paragraph (1)(A) may not be delegated. 

20 ‘‘(3) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A certification by 

21 the Attorney General under this subsection is not sub22 ject to judicial review. 

23 ‘‘(f) NO LIMITATION ON CONDUCT PURSUANT TO THE

24 LAWS OF WAR.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 

25 to make unlawful conduct pursuant to the laws of war. 


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1 ‘‘(g) NO LIMITATION ON DEFENSES OR IMMUNITIES.— 

2 Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or extin3 guish any defense or immunity otherwise available to any 

4 person or entity. 

5 ‘‘(h) INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AND AMERICAN

6 SERVICEMEMBERS’ PROTECTION ACT OF 2002.—Nothing in 

7 this section shall be construed as support for ratification 

8 of, or participation by the United States in, the Rome Stat9 ute of the International Criminal Court, which entered into 

10 force on July 1, 2002, or to repeal or limit the applicability 

11 of the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act of 2002 (22 

12 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.). 

13 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) ARMED GROUP.—The term ‘armed group’ 

15 means any army, militia, or other military organiza16 tion, whether or not it is state-sponsored, excluding 

17 any group assembled solely for nonviolent political 

18 association. 

19 ‘‘(2) ATTACK DIRECTED AGAINST ANY CIVILIAN

20 POPULATION.—The term ‘attack directed against any 

21 civilian population’ means a course of conduct in 

22 which the country or armed group carrying out the 

23 attack intends a civilian population as such to be a 

24 primary rather than an incidental target. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ETHNIC GROUP; NATIONAL GROUP; RACIAL

2 GROUP; RELIGIOUS GROUP.—The terms ‘ethnic group’, 

3 ‘national group’, ‘racial group’’, and ‘religious group’ 

4 have the meanings given those terms in section 1093 

5 of this title. 

6 ‘‘(4) EXTERMINATION.—The term ‘extermination’ 

7 means subjecting a civilian population to conditions 

8 of life that are intended to cause the physical destruc9 tion of the group in whole or in part. 

10 ‘‘(5) LAWFULLY ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT

11 RESIDENCE; NATIONAL OF THE UNITED STATES.—The 

12 terms ‘lawfully admitted for permanent residence’ 

13 and ‘national of the United States’ have the meanings 

14 give those terms in section 101(a) of the Immigration 

15 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)). 

16 ‘‘(6) NATIONAL, ETHNIC, RACIAL, OR RELIGIOUS

17 CLEANSING.—The term ‘national, ethnic, racial, or 

18 religious cleansing’ means the intentional and forced 

19 displacement from 1 country to another or within a 

20 country of any national group, ethnic group, racial 

21 group, or religious group in whole or in part, by ex22 pulsion or other coercive acts intended to displace 

23 such group from the area in which they are lawfully 

24 present, except when the displacement is in accord25 ance with applicable laws of armed conflict that perVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:39 Jul 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1346.RS S1346

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1 mit involuntary and temporary displacement of a 

2 population to ensure its security or when imperative 

3 military reasons so demand. 

4 ‘‘(7) SYSTEMATIC.—The term ‘systematic’ means 

5 pursuant to or in furtherance of the policy of a coun6 try or armed group. To constitute a policy, the coun7 try or armed group must have actively promoted the 

8 policy. 

9 ‘‘(8) WIDESPREAD.—The term ‘widespread’ 

10 means involving not less than 50 victims.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters for 

12 part 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by insert13 ing after the item relating to chapter 25 the following: 

‘‘25A. Crimes against humanity ..................................................................... 519’’. 

14 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

15 Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act 

16 and apply to conduct committed on or after the date of en17 actment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 474 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1346 

A BILL 

To penalize crimes against humanity, and for other 

purposes. 

JULY 21, 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


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