IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1246 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United States 

policy recognizing the Semele Massacre of 1933. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2020 

Mrs. LESKO (for herself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. PERRY, Mr. HARDER of California, and Ms. ESHOO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United States policy recognizing the Semele Massacre 

of 1933. 

Whereas the United States has a history of recognizing and 

condemning atrocities experienced by vulnerable and native minorities; 

Whereas the First World War brought untold suffering to the 

world, and particularly to the Assyrian people, who lost 

two-thirds of their numbers to violence, famine, and disease inflicted upon them by hostile forces, and found 

themselves in a difficult predicament as new nation-states 

formed around them; 

Whereas the Assyrians had not been included in the SykesPicot Agreement between the British and French GovernVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1246.IH HR1246

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•HRES 1246 IH 

ments after the First World War and were otherwise left 

vulnerable as refugees in the newly formed Kingdom of 

Iraq; 

Whereas the Government of Iraq became increasingly hostile 

toward the Assyrians, and on August 18, 1933, exiled 

their leader, Patriarch Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII, to Cyprus, with the authorization of the British Government, 

despite the Assyrians being recognized as Britain’s 

‘‘smallest ally’’ in the Middle East; 

Whereas the Government of Iraq rejected the Assyrian leaders’ request for autonomy and sought to cause division 

and animosity among them; 

Whereas, in August 1933, after the surrender of those Assyrians who pledged their loyalties to the Government of 

Iraq and laid down their arms in the interest of peace, 

the armed forces of the Government of Iraq targeted 

them for calculated slaughter that came to be known as 

the Semele Massacre; 

Whereas the greatest number of killings occurred between 

August 1 and September 16, 1933, when up to 3,000 unarmed Assyrian Christian men, women, and children were 

slaughtered by the armed forces of the Government of 

Iraq; 

Whereas at the time of the massacres, over 60 Assyrian villages were looted and destroyed by various populations 

urged on to destroy the Assyrian people; 

Whereas as a result of the massacres, numerous Assyrians 

were forcedly displaced within their country of Iraq, and 

others were forced to flee the country; 

Whereas the entire world was horrified at the indiscriminate 

slaughter of men, women, and children; and 


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•HRES 1246 IH 

Whereas the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention 

Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–441) establishes that 

atrocities prevention represents a United States national 

interest, and affirms that it is the policy of the United 

States to pursue a United States Government wide strategy to identify, prevent, and respond to the risk of atrocities by ‘‘strengthening diplomatic response and the effective use of foreign assistance to support appropriate transitional justice measures, including criminal accountability, for past atrocities’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that it is the policy of the United States to— 

3 (1) commemorate the Semele Massacre through 

4 official recognition and remembrance; 

5 (2) reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise 

6 associate the United States Government with denial 

7 of the Semele Massacre; and 

8 (3) encourage education and public under9 standing of the facts of the Semele Massacre, includ10 ing the United States role in the humanitarian relief 

11 effort, and the relevance of the Semele Massacre to 

12 modern-day crimes against humanity. 

Æ 


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