III 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 121 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MARCH 15, 2016 
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress condemning the gross 
violations of international law amounting to war crimes 
and crimes against humanity by the Government of 
Syria, its allies, and other parties to the conflict in 
Syria, and asking the President to direct his Ambassador 
at the United Nations to promote the establishment of 
a war crimes tribunal where these crimes could be ad-
dressed. 
Whereas the Government of Syria, led by President Bashar 
al-Assad, has engaged in widespread torture and rape, 
employed starvation as a weapon of war, and massacred 
civilians, including through the use of chemical weapons, 
cluster munitions, and barrel bombs; 
Whereas the vast majority of the civilians who have died in 
the 
Syrian 
conflict 
have 
been 
killed 
by 
the 
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Government of Syria led by President Bashar al-Assad 
and its allies, specifically the Russian Federation, the Is-
lamic Republic of Iran, and Iran’s terrorist proxies in-
cluding Hezbollah; 
Whereas the Government of Syria reportedly has subjected 
nearly 1 million civilians to devastating sieges and manip-
ulated the delivery of humanitarian aid for its own gain, 
thereby weaponizing starvation against populations, such 
as in Madaya; 
Whereas the Government of Syria continues to target schools, 
water, electric, and medical facilities as a way to deny ci-
vilians access to critical infrastructure and basic services; 
Whereas the Government of Syria has conducted massive and 
widespread enforced disappearances, systematic torture, 
and killing, amounting to what the United Nations Inde-
pendent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syr-
ian Arab Republic recently described as ‘‘extermination’’ 
at the hands of the State; 
Whereas the same Commission of Inquiry described these and 
other actions perpetrated by the Government of Syria as 
war crimes and crimes against humanity; 
Whereas the Government of Syria and its allies have carried 
out mass atrocities without regard for international 
norms or human decency; 
Whereas the Government of Syria and its allies have attacked 
various religious and ethnic minority populations in 
Syria, including Christians, Turkmens, and Ismaelis; 
Whereas the Russian Federation has not only enabled the 
Government of Syria’s perpetration of these crimes but 
has committed its own violations of international law by 
leading deliberate bombing campaigns on civilian targets 
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including bakeries, hospitals, markets, and schools, con-
trary to United Nations Security Council Resolution 
2254, adopted on December 18, 2015, which demanded 
‘‘that all parties immediately cease any attacks against 
civilians and civilian objects’’; 
Whereas the attacks by the Government of Syria and its al-
lies have focused on civilian targets and the United 
States-backed opposition, and have led to the expansion 
of the Islamic State in Syria; 
Whereas other parties to the conflict in Syria, including the 
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the al-Nusra 
Front, have engaged in torture, rape, summary execution 
of government soldiers, kidnapping for ransom, and vio-
lence against civilians; 
Whereas these continued violations of international law, with-
out any promise of accountability, jeopardize hope for es-
tablishing a meaningful and lasting peace through the 
Geneva and Vienna processes; 
Whereas Syria is not a state-party to the Rome Statute and 
is not a member of the International Criminal Court; 
Whereas the United States supports the collection and anal-
ysis of documentation related to the ongoing violations of 
human rights, the coordination of Syrian and inter-
national actors working on documentation and transi-
tional justice efforts, and education and outreach on 
transitional justice concepts and processes, including ef-
forts of the Syria Justice and Accountability Center 
sponsored by the United States and various other states 
and multilateral institutions; 
Whereas the international community has previously estab-
lished ad hoc or regional tribunals through the United 
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Nations to bring justice in specific countries where war 
crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide have been 
committed; 
Whereas ad hoc or regional tribunals, including the Inter-
national Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the 
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the 
Special Court for Sierra Leone, have successfully inves-
tigated and prosecuted war crimes, crimes against hu-
manity, and genocide, and there are many positive les-
sons to be learned from such tribunals; and 
Whereas any lasting, peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria 
must be based upon justice for all, including members of 
all factions, political parties, ethnicities, and religions: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) strongly condemns the continued use of un-
lawful and indiscriminate violence against civilian 
populations by the Government of Syria, its allies, 
and other parties to the conflict; 
(2) urges the United States and its partners to 
continue to demand and work toward the cessation 
of attacks on Syrian civilians by the Government of 
Syria, its allies, and other parties to the conflict; 
(3) urges the Administration to establish addi-
tional mechanisms for the protection of civilians and 
to ensure consistent and equitable access to humani-
tarian aid for vulnerable populations; 
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