IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1061 

Condemning war crimes committed in Idlib, Syria, by the regime of Bashar 

Al-Assad and its backers and calling for a political solution to the 

Syrian civil war. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2020 

Mr. CHABOT submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning war crimes committed in Idlib, Syria, by the 

regime of Bashar Al-Assad and its backers and calling 

for a political solution to the Syrian civil war. 

Whereas the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011 when Syrians 

peacefully protested against the regime of Bashar AlAssad to request basic freedoms; 

Whereas the regime of Bashar Al-Assad responded to these 

protests with violence, imprisonment, torture, barrel 

bombs, and forced displacement; 

Whereas the civil war and the brutality of the Assad regime 

has caused nearly 600,000 Syrians to die, 5,000,000 Syrians to flee the country, and 6,000,000 to be internally 

displaced; 


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•HRES 1061 IH 

Whereas Turkey and Russia concluded the September 2018 

Sochi agreement, which included the continuation of a 

previously negotiated Idlib de-escalation area, which 

would ensure a ceasefire in Idlib; 

Whereas Syrian forces, with the assistance of Russia and 

Iran, launched an offensive in early 2019 to retake the 

city of Idlib and surrounding areas, violating the Sochi 

agreement and causing the worst humanitarian conditions since the beginning of the conflict; 

Whereas civilians, hospitals, and schools have been targeted 

by the Syrian regime, Russia, and Iran; 

Whereas the situation has escalated, resulting in an additional 1,000,000 internally displaced persons seeking 

shelter along the Turkish border during the December 

2019 to March 2020 period; 

Whereas more than 80 percent of the newly displaced are 

women and children; 

Whereas Turkey intervened in Idlib to prevent the Assad regime from forcing these displaced persons into Turkey 

and destroyed many military assets of the Assad regime 

including aircraft, ground vehicles, and artillery pieces, as 

well as air defense systems; 

Whereas, on March 3, 2020, in remarks to media while visiting Turkey, Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, Special Representative for Syria Engagement and Special Envoy to 

the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, said, ‘‘We will make 

sure that the equipment is ready. As a NATO partner we 

share information intelligence . . . and we are going to 

ensure that they have what they need there.’’; 

Whereas, on March 5, 2020, Turkey and Russia signed a 

protocol introducing a ceasefire which includes a security 


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corridor and joint Russian-Turkish patrols along the M4 

Highway starting on March 15, 2020; 

Whereas that protocol also emphasized that the targeting of 

civilians and civilian infrastructure cannot be justified, 

and stressed the importance of protecting civilians, preventing the displacement of the Syrian people, facilitating 

the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally 

displaced persons, and ensuring humanitarian assistance 

to all Syrians in need; 

Whereas, on June 5, 2020, Ambassador Jeffery stated in a 

public briefing, ‘‘So the Turks are much more involved. 

The ceasefire is holding. Even the Russians that I’ve 

talked to basically agree that they’re seeing fewer attacks 

from the terrorist groups—there are several of them: 

Hurras al-Din, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham—and the Turks 

are working pretty aggressively against them. They’re 

taking losses and they’re inflicting losses to try to keep 

these people under control, which has been part of this 

last ceasefire and the early one from September 2018. So 

that’s a good sign. It deprives the regime of an excuse 

to launch another offensive.’’; 

Whereas, on July 7, 2020, the United Nations Commission 

of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic released a report 

documenting war crimes by the Russian Federation, the 

Assad regime, and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, between November 2019 and June 2020; 

Whereas the Commission Chair, Paulo Pinheiro, said upon 

release of the report, ‘‘It is completely abhorrent that, 

after more than 9 years, civilians continue to be indiscriminately attacked, or even targeted, while going about 

their daily lives’’, continuing, ‘‘Children were shelled at 

school, parents were shelled at the market, patients were 


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•HRES 1061 IH 

shelled at the hospital . . . and entire families were 

bombarded even while fleeing’’, and going on to say, 

‘‘What is clear from the military campaign is that progovernment forces and UN-designated terrorists flagrantly violated the laws of war and the rights of Syrian 

civilians’’; 

Whereas the United States and Europe stand in strong opposition to the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure as well as medical institutions; 

Whereas, in July 2020, the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China vetoed a resolution supported by 

the United States and all other members of the United 

Nations Security Council to renew the authorization of 

humanitarian access at two border crossings between 

Turkey and Syria, and forced the Security Council to diminish access to only one such crossing; 

Whereas the Syrian refugee crisis has placed tremendous 

strain on Syria’s neighbors, as well as on many countries 

in Europe; 

Whereas it is in the interests of the United States and Europe to support unfettered humanitarian access to Idlib 

and to support humanitarian efforts within Syria; and 

Whereas it is in the United States interest that the ceasefire 

hold, and the United States continue its efforts to work 

with NATO allies to ensure that it is extended: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) it condemns the Assad regime, the Russian 

4 Federation, and associated forces for repeatedly vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Jul 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1061.IH HR1061

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1 lating ceasefire agreements and for attacking med2 ical personnel and institutions, targeting civilians, or 

3 committing other war crimes and gross violations of 

4 human rights; 

5 (2) the United States and the international 

6 community should seek ways to support the 

7 ceasefire; 

8 (3) members of the United Nations Security 

9 Council should ensure unfettered cross-border hu10 manitarian access to vulnerable populations in Syria; 

11 (4) the United States should seek international 

12 support, especially among its NATO allies, for Tur13 key’s efforts to ensure civilian security and to com14 bat the operations of extremist groups in northwest 

15 Syria to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire; 

16 (5) the United States should continue to pro17 vide leadership in ensuring effective humanitarian 

18 assistance to Syrian refugees and internally dis19 placed people as well as in facilitating the safe, dig20 nified, and voluntary return of refugees; and 

21 (6) Syria should seek a political solution in ac22 cord with United Nations Security Council Resolu23 tion 2254, which promotes a road map for the peace 

24 process in Syria. 

Æ 


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