II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2209 

To require a report on accountability for war crimes and crimes against 

humanity in Syria. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 3, 2014 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. KAINE, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require a report on accountability for war crimes and 

crimes against humanity in Syria. 

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 ‘‘Syrian War Crimes 

5 Accountability Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) On February 22, 2014, the United Nations 

9 Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 


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1 2139 recognizing the escalating level of violence in 

2 Syria. 

3 (2) Credible sources estimate the death of more 

4 than 140,000 people in Syria, including 10,000 chil5 dren. 

6 (3) On February 27, 2014, the Department of 

7 State issued its 2013 Human Rights Report on 

8 Syria, which described President Bashar al Assad’s 

9 use of ‘‘indiscriminate and deadly force’’ in the con10 flict, including the August 21, 2013, use of ‘‘sarin 

11 gas and artillery to target East Ghouta and 

12 Moadamiya al-Sham, suburbs of Damascus, which 

13 killed over 1,000 people.’’ 

14 (4) The United Nations Independent Inter15 national Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab 

16 Republic reports that pro-government forces have 

17 conducted attacks on Syrian civilian populations, 

18 and have utilized murder, torture, assault, and rape 

19 as war tactics. Anti-government groups have also 

20 committed murder and torture, engaged in hostage21 taking, attacked protected objects, and shelled civil22 ian neighborhoods. 

23 (5) Internationally accepted rules of war require 

24 actors to distinguish between civilians and combat25 ants and that all parties adhere to the principle of 


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1 medical neutrality whereby both sides ensure 

2 unhindered access to medical care. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 Congress— 

5 (1) strongly condemns the ongoing violence, use 

6 of chemical weapons, targeting of civilian popu7 lations with barrel, incendiary and cluster bombs, 

8 and SCUD missiles, and systematic gross human 

9 rights violations carried out by Government of Syria 

10 and pro-government forces under the direction of 

11 President Bashar al-Assad, as well as abuses com12 mitted by violent extremist groups and other com13 batants involved in the civil war in Syria; 

14 (2) expresses its support for the people of Syria 

15 seeking democratic change; 

16 (3) urges all parties to the conflict to imme17 diately halt indiscriminate attacks on civilians; 

18 (4) calls on the President to support efforts in 

19 Syria and on the part of the international commu20 nity to ensure accountability for war crimes and 

21 crimes against humanity committed during the con22 flict; and 

23 (5) calls for a United Nations Security Council 

24 investigation into gross violations of human rights 


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1 and war crimes committed during the Syrian con2 flict. 

3 SEC. 4. REPORT ON ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WAR CRIMES 

4 AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN SYRIA. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, and again not later than 

7 180 days after the cessation of violence in Syria, the Sec8 retary of State shall submit to the appropriate congres9 sional committees a report on war crimes and crimes 

10 against humanity in Syria. 

11 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under para12 graph (1) shall include the following elements: 

13 (1) A description of violations of internationally 

14 recognized human rights and crimes against human15 ity perpetrated during the civil war in Syria, includ16 ing— 

17 (A) an account of the war crimes and 

18 crimes against humanity committed by the re19 gime of President Bashar al-Assad; 

20 (B) an account of the war crimes and 

21 crimes against humanity committed by violent 

22 extremist groups and other combatants in the 

23 conflict; and 


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1 (C) a description of the conventional and 

2 unconventional weapons used for such crimes 

3 and, where possible, the origins of the weapons. 

4 (2) A description of efforts by the Department 

5 of State and the United States Agency for Inter6 national Development to ensure accountability for 

7 violations of internationally recognized human rights 

8 and crimes against humanity perpetrated against the 

9 people of Syria by the regime of President Bashar 

10 al-Assad, violent extremist groups, and other com11 batants involved in the conflict, including— 

12 (A) a description of initiatives that the 

13 United States Government has undertaken to 

14 train investigators in Syria on how to docu15 ment, investigate, and develop findings of war 

16 crimes, including the number of United States 

17 Government or contract personnel currently 

18 designated to work full-time on these issues and 

19 an identification of the authorities and appro20 priations being used to support training efforts; 

21 (B) a description of the strategy and im22 plementation efforts to ensure accountability for 

23 crimes committed during the Syrian conflict, in24 cluding efforts to promote the establishment of 

25 an ad hoc tribunal to prosecute the perpetrators 


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1 of war crimes committed during the civil war in 

2 Syria; and 

3 (C) an assessment of the impact of those 

4 initiatives. 

5 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE DE6 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres7 sional committees’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

9 Senate; and 

10 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

11 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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