I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5333 

To impose sanctions in relation to violations by Iran of the Geneva Convention 

(III) or the right under international law to conduct innocent passage, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2016 

Mr. POMPEO 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 impose sanctions in relation to violations by Iran of 

the Geneva Convention (III) or the right under international law to conduct innocent passage, 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 ‘‘No Impunity for Ira5 nian Aggression at Sea Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON INDIVIDUALS WHO 

2 WERE COMPLICIT IN VIOLATIONS OF THE GE3 NEVA CONVENTION OR THE RIGHT UNDER 

4 INTERNATIONAL LAW TO CONDUCT INNO5 CENT PASSAGE. 

6 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

9 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com10 mittees a report that includes— 

11 (A) a determination with respect to wheth12 er, during or after the incident that began on 

13 January 12, 2016, in which forces of Iran 

14 boarded two United States Navy riverine com15 bat vessels and detained at gunpoint the crews 

16 of those vessels, any of the actions of the forces 

17 of Iran constituted a violation of— 

18 (i) the Geneva Convention; or 

19 (ii) the right under international law 

20 to conduct innocent passage; and 

21 (B) a certification with respect to whether 

22 or not Federal funds, including the 

23 $1,700,000,000 payment that was announced 

24 by the Secretary of State on January 17, 2016, 

25 were paid to Iran, directly or indirectly, to ef26 fect the release of— 


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1 (i) the members of the United States 

2 Navy who were detained in the incident de3 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 

4 (ii) other United States citizens, in5 cluding Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, 

6 Saeed Abedini, Nosratollah Khosravi7 Roodsari, and Matthew Trevithick, the re8 lease of whom was announced on January 

9 16, 2016. 

10 (2) ACTIONS TO BE ASSESSED.—In assessing 

11 actions of the forces of Iran under paragraph 

12 (1)(A), the President shall consider, at a minimum, 

13 the following actions: 

14 (A) The stopping, boarding, search, and 

15 seizure of the two United States Navy riverine 

16 combat vessels in the incident described in 

17 paragraph (1)(A). 

18 (B) The removal from their vessels and de19 tention of members of the United States Armed 

20 Forces in that incident. 

21 (C) The theft or confiscation of electronic 

22 navigational equipment or any other equipment 

23 from the vessels. 


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1 (D) The forcing of one or more members 

2 of the United States Armed Forces to apologize 

3 for their actions. 

4 (E) The display, videotaping, or photo5 graphing of members of the United States 

6 Armed Forces and the subsequent broadcasting 

7 or other use of those photographs or videos. 

8 (F) The forcing of female members of the 

9 United States Armed Forces to wear head cov10 erings. 

11 (3) DESCRIPTION OF ACTIONS.—In the case of 

12 each action that the President determines under 

13 paragraph (1)(A) is a violation of the Geneva Con14 vention or the right under international law to con15 duct innocent passage, the President shall include in 

16 the report required by that paragraph a description 

17 of the action and an explanation of how the action 

18 violated the Geneva Convention or the right to con19 duct innocent passage, as the case may be. 

20 (4) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required by 

21 paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified 

22 form, but may include a classified annex. 

23 (b) LIST OF CERTAIN PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN

24 COMPLICIT IN VIOLATIONS OF THE GENEVA CONVENTION

25 OR THE RIGHT TO CONDUCT INNOCENT PASSAGE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

2 the submission of the report required by subsection 

3 (a), if the President has determined that one or 

4 more actions of the forces of Iran constituted a vio5 lation of the Geneva Convention or the right under 

6 international law to conduct innocent passage, the 

7 President shall submit to the appropriate congres8 sional committees a list of persons who are officials 

9 of the Government of Iran or were acting on behalf 

10 of that Government that, based on credible evidence, 

11 are responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for 

12 ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, any 

13 such violation. 

14 (2) UPDATES OF LIST.—The President shall 

15 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

16 an updated list under paragraph (1) as new infor17 mation becomes available. 

18 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—To the maximum 

19 extent practicable, the list required by paragraph (1) 

20 shall be made available to the public and posted on 

21 publicly accessible Internet websites of the Depart22 ment of Defense and the Department of State. 

23 (c) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose 

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1 spect to each person on the list required by sub2 section (b). 

3 (2) SANCTIONS.— 

4 (A) PROHIBITION ON ENTRY AND ADMIS5 SION TO THE UNITED STATES.—An alien on the 

6 list required by subsection (b) may not— 

7 (i) be admitted to, enter, or transit 

8 through the United States; 

9 (ii) receive any lawful immigration 

10 status in the United States under the im11 migration laws; or 

12 (iii) file any application or petition to 

13 obtain such admission, entry, or status. 

14 (B) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—The President 

16 shall, pursuant to the International Emer17 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

18 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all trans19 actions in all property and interests in 

20 property of a person on the list required by 

21 subsection (b) if such property and inter22 ests in property are in the United States, 

23 come within the United States, or are or 

24 come within the possession or control of a 

25 United States person. 


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1 (ii) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPOR2 TATION OF GOODS.— 

3 (I) IN GENERAL.—The authority 

4 to block and prohibit all transactions 

5 in all property and interests in prop6 erty under clause (i) shall not include 

7 the authority to impose sanctions on 

8 the importation of goods. 

9 (II) GOOD.—In this subpara10 graph, the term ‘‘good’’ has the mean11 ing given that term in section 16 of 

12 the Export Administration Act of 

13 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4618) (as continued 

14 in effect pursuant to the International 

15 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

16 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)). 

17 (iii) PENALTIES.—A person that vio18 lates, attempts to violate, conspires to vio19 late, or causes a violation of clause (i) or 

20 any regulation, license, or order issued to 

21 carry out clause (i) shall be subject to the 

22 penalties set forth in subsections (b) and 

23 (c) of section 206 of the International 

24 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

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1 son that commits an unlawful act de2 scribed in subsection (a) of that section. 

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN; IMMIGRATION LAWS.— 

5 The terms ‘‘admitted’’, ‘‘alien’’, and ‘‘immigration 

6 laws’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec7 tion 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

8 U.S.C. 1101). 

9 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

13 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Select 

14 Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

15 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

16 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Perma17 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

18 House of Representatives. 

19 (3) FORCES OF IRAN.—The term ‘‘forces of 

20 Iran’’ means the Islamic Revolutionary Guard 

21 Corps, members of other military or paramilitary 

22 units of the Government of Iran, and other agents 

23 of that Government. 

24 (4) GENEVA CONVENTION.—The term ‘‘Geneva 

25 Convention’’ means the Convention relative to the 


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1 Treatment of Prisoners of War, done at Geneva on 

2 August 12, 1949 (6 UST 3316) (commonly referred 

3 to as the ‘‘Geneva Convention (III))’’. 

4 (5) INNOCENT PASSAGE.—The term ‘‘innocent 

5 passage’’ means the principle under customary inter6 national law that all vessels have the right to con7 duct innocent passage through another country’s 

8 territorial waters for the purpose of continuous and 

9 expeditious traversing. 

10 (6) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

11 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

12 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law13 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

14 United States; or 

15 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

16 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

17 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

18 such an entity. 

Æ 


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