I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4448

To require the President to seek the establishment of an international commission for monitoring the treatment of persons in United States custody 

in Iraq. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2004

Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. LEACH, and Mr. CROWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To require the President to seek the establishment of an 

international commission for monitoring the treatment 

of persons in United States custody in Iraq.

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 ‘‘International Commis5 sion To Monitor United States-Held Prisoners in Iraq Act 

6 of 2004’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 
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1 (1) Serious allegations have been raised and 

2 substantial evidence exists that physical and sexual 

3 abuse have taken place within Abu Ghraib Prison 

4 and potentially other facilities under the manage5 ment of the United States Armed Forces or intel6 ligence services in Iraq. 

7 (2) In the Convention Relative to the Treat8 ment of Prisoners of War, signed at Geneva on Au9 gust 12, 1949 (referred to as the ‘‘Third Geneva 

10 Convention’’), the international community has pre11 scribed rules concerning the treatment of prisoners 

12 of war. 

13 (3) The United States, along with more than 

14 190 other countries, is a party to the Geneva Con15 ventions of 1949 and abiding by the terms of those 

16 conventions is very much in the national security in17 terests of the United States. 

18 (4) The Third Geneva Convention prohibits in19 humane treatment of prisoners of war, acts of vio20 lence and insults against them, and the infliction of 

21 physical or mental torture, or any other form of co22 ercion, on such prisoners. 

23 (5) A report, the ‘‘Article 15–6 Investigation of 

24 the 800th Military Police Brigade’’, prepared by 

25 Major General Antonio M. Taguba, Deputy Com-
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1 manding General Support, Coalition Forces Land 

2 Component Command, which has been made public 

3 in the national media, reads in part, ‘‘That between 

4 October and December 2003, at the Abu Ghraib 

5 Confinement Facility (BCCF), numerous incidents 

6 of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were 

7 inflicted on several detainees.’’. 

8 (6) This report also describes the ‘‘systemic and 

9 illegal abuse of detainees’’. 

10 (7) According to congressional testimony, the 

11 International Committee of the Red Cross provided 

12 a number of warnings to Coalition forces regarding 

13 conditions in certain Iraqi prisons and provided a 

14 written report to Coalition headquarters personnel in 

15 November 2003 that similar abuses were occurring 

16 at the Abu Ghraib facility. 

17 (8) The Wall Street Journal has published the 

18 February 2004 ‘‘Report of the International Com19 mittee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Treatment 

20 by the Coalition Forces of Prisoners of War and 

21 other Protected Persons by the Geneva Conventions 

22 in Iraq during Arrest, Internment, and Interroga23 tion’’, detailing complaints of the mistreatment of 

24 Iraqi prisoners in United States custody which was 

25 sent to United States officials. 
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1 (9) The International Committee of the Red 

2 Cross asserted at a recent press conference that it 

3 had repeatedly expressed written and verbal con4 cerns regarding the widespread mistreatment of 

5 prisoners, including in meetings at the highest level 

6 of the Coalition Provisional Authority. 

7 (10) The February 2004 report of the Inter8 national Committee of the Red Cross detailed viola9 tions including ‘‘Brutality against protected persons 

10 upon capture and initial custody, sometimes causing 

11 death or serious injury . . . Physical or psychological 

12 coercion during interrogation to secure information 

13 . . . [and] Excessive and disproportionate use of 

14 force against persons deprived of their liberty result15 ing in death or injury during their period of intern16 ment.’’. 

17 (11) The International Committee of the Red 

18 Cross also found that ‘‘[arresting authorities] rarely 

19 informed the arrestee or his family where he was 

20 being taken and for how long, resulting in the de 

21 facto ‘disappearance’ of the arrestee for weeks or 

22 even months until contact was finally made.’’. 

23 (12) Congress has the utmost confidence that 

24 such abuses do not typify the behavior of the vast 

25 majority of the tens of thousands of United States 
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1 Armed Forces personnel and allies in Operation 

2 Iraqi Freedom. 

3 (13) The evidence of abuse documented by pho4 tographic and videographic images released in the 

5 media has aroused international outcry, damaged 

6 United States relations with other countries, and po7 tentially added to the dangers faced by United 

8 States military personnel or civilians who may be 

9 captured by adversaries. 

10 (14) Congress was not fully informed of the ex11 istence, seriousness, or investigation of those abuses 

12 until after the abuses had been disclosed in the na13 tional media. 

14 (15) House Concurrent Resolution 118, which 

15 was passed by the House of Representatives on 

16 March 27, 2003, by a vote of 419–0, resolved that 

17 the Congress demanded ‘‘that Iraqi authorities com18 ply fully and immediately with its obligations and re19 sponsibilities of the Convention Relative to the 

20 Treatment of Prisoners of War’’, condemned ‘‘the 

21 failure of Iraqi authorities to treat prisoners of war 

22 in strict conformity with that Convention’’, and 

23 joined ‘‘the President in warning all Iraqi authorities 

24 that any individual who mistreats any prisoner of 

25 war in violation of that Convention shall be consid-
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1 ered a war criminal and prosecuted as such to the 

2 full extent of United States and international law’’. 

3 (16) Greater oversight and transparency in the 

4 management of United States-run prisons in Iraq is 

5 clearly needed. 

6 (17) The United States must take immediate 

7 and concrete steps to build confidence among Iraqis 

8 in our actions and motives. 

9 (18) It is imperative that the Iraqi people be 

10 given a greater role in the operation of the prison 

11 system in their country. 

12 (19) Greater international cooperation and as13 sistance in the management of the Iraqi prisons 

14 would provide greater reassurance to the Iraqi peo15 ple and the international community that the United 

16 States is abiding by the Geneva Conventions of 

17 1949. 

18 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION 

19 FOR MONITORING TREATMENT OF PERSONS 

20 IN UNITED STATES CUSTODY IN IRAQ. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall seek to 

22 establish an international commission for monitoring the 

23 treatment of persons in United States custody in Iraq. 

24 (b) SCOPE OF DUTIES.—It is the sense of Congress 

25 that the international commission referred to in subsection 
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1 (a) should monitor the treatment of persons in United 

2 States custody in Iraq so as to ensure compliance with 

3 the terms of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and other 

4 relevant international instruments and to provide assur5 ances to the people of Iraq and the international commu6 nity that the treatment of such persons is in accordance 

7 with international law. 

8 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—It is the sense of Congress that 

9 the international commission referred to in subsection (a) 

10 should include representatives from—

11 (1) the interim or transitional government in 

12 Iraq; 

13 (2) Iraqi civil society; 

14 (3) the International Committee of the Red 

15 Cross; 

16 (4) the International Federation of Red Cross 

17 and Red Crescent Societies; 

18 (5) the United Nations; and 

19 (6) the United States Armed Forces and Coali20 tion forces.

Æ