Saudi Arabia Accountability for Gross Violations of Human Rights Act
Bill: H.R.1464 | Sponsor: Rep. Malinowski, Tom (D-NJ)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Saudi Arabia Accountability for Gross Violations of Human Rights Act
This bill imposes visa-blocking sanctions on specified foreign persons determined to have played a role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, and it requires the Department of State to report on incidents of arbitrary detention, violence, and state-sanctioned harassment by Saudi Arabia against U.S. citizens and their family members. The bill also requires the State Department to make publicly available a report that describes whether and how a concurrence with Saudi Arabia for U.S. security assistance will avoid identifying the United States with governments that deny human rights and fundamental freedoms to their people.

To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons listed in the 
     Office of the Director of National Intelligence report titled 
    ``Assessing the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal 
                 Khashoggi'', dated February 11, 2021.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Saudi Arabia Accountability for 
Gross Violations of Human Rights Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On October 2, 2018, Washington Post journalist Jamal 
        Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi government agents in Istanbul, 
        having reportedly been lured out of the United States by Saudi 
        diplomatic officials in Washington, DC, and monitored through 
        surveillance spyware.
            (2) On July 25, 2019, the House of Representatives passed 
        by a margin of 405-7 the Saudi Arabia Human Rights and 
        Accountability Act of 2019, which required--
                    (A) an unclassified report by the Director of 
                National Intelligence on parties responsible for 
                Khashoggi's murder, a requirement ultimately inserted 
                into and passed as part of the National Defense 
                Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020;
                    (B) visa sanctions on all persons identified in 
                such report; and
                    (C) a report on human rights on Saudi Arabia.
            (3) On February 26, 2021, the Director of National 
        Intelligence released the report produced pursuant to 
        congressional direction, directly implicating Saudi Crown 
        Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials in 
        the planning and direction of Khashoggi's murder.
            (4) Section 7031(c) of division K of the Consolidated 
        Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260) requires the 
        Secretary of State to deny entry into the United States of 
        ``officials of foreign governments and their immediate family 
        members about whom the Secretary of State has credible 
        information have been involved, directly or indirectly, in . . 
        . a gross violation of human rights''.
            (5) The Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) 
        prohibits weapons transfers to foreign countries determined by 
        the President to be engaged in a ``pattern of acts of 
        intimidation or harassment directed against individuals in the 
        United States''.
            (6) The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et 
        seq.) directs the President to formulate and conduct 
        international security assistance programs of the United States 
        in a manner which will ``avoid identification of the United 
        States, through such programs, with governments which deny to 
        their people internationally recognized human rights and 
        fundamental freedoms''.
            (7) Secretary of State Antony Blinken has affirmed the 
        United States national interest in preventing authoritarian 
        foreign governments from reaching beyond their borders to 
        intimidate or harm persons within the United States, stating 
        that: ``As a matter of safety for all within our borders, 
        perpetrators targeting perceived dissidents on behalf of any 
        foreign government should not be permitted to reach American 
        soil. . . . We have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial 
        threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, 
        dissidents, and journalists must end.''.

SEC. 3. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN PERSONS LISTED IN THE REPORT 
              OF THE DIRECTOR NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE MURDER OF 
              JAMAL KHASHOGGI.

    (a) Imposition of Sanctions.--On and after the date that is 30 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the sanctions described in 
subsection (b) shall be imposed with respect to each foreign person 
listed in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence report 
titled ``Assessing the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal 
Khashoggi'', dated February 11, 2021.
    (b) Sanctions Described.--
            (1) In general.--The sanctions described in this subsection 
        are the following:
                    (A) Ineligibility for visas and admission to the 
                united states.--
                            (i) Inadmissibility to the United States.
                            (ii) Ineligibility to receive a visa or 
                        other documentation to enter the United States.
                            (iii) Ineligibility to otherwise be 
                        admitted or paroled into the United States or 
                        to receive any other benefit under the 
                        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 110 
                        et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--
                            (i) Revocation of any visa or other entry 
                        documentation regardless of when the visa or 
                        other entry documentation is or was issued.
                            (ii) A revocation under clause (i) shall--
                                    (I) take effect immediately; and
                                    (II) automatically cancel any other 
                                valid visa or entry documentation that 
                                is in the foreign person's possession.
            (2) Exception to comply with international obligations.--
        Sanctions under paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to a 
        foreign person if admitting or paroling the person into the 
        United States is necessary to permit the United States to 
        comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the 
        United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and 
        entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United 
        Nations and the United States, or other applicable 
        international obligations.
            (3) Waiver in the interest of national security.--The 
        President may waive for an individual entry into the United 
        States the application of this section with respect to a 
        foreign person who is A-1 visa eligible and who is present in 
        or seeking admission into the United States for purposes of 
        official business if the President determines and transmits to 
        the appropriate congressional committees an unclassified 
        written notice and justification not later than 15 days before 
        the granting of such waiver, that such a waiver is in the 
        national security interests of the United States.
    (c) Suspension of Sanctions.--
            (1) In general.--The President may suspend in whole or in 
        part the imposition of sanctions otherwise required under this 
        section if the President certifies to the appropriate 
        congressional committees that the following criteria have been 
        met in Saudi Arabia:
                    (A) The Government of Saudi Arabia is not 
                arbitrarily detaining citizens or legal residents of 
                the United States or any other third country for 
                arbitrary political reasons, including criticism of 
                Saudi government policies, peaceful advocacy of 
                political beliefs, or the pursuit of United States 
                citizenship.
                    (B) The Government of Saudi Arabia is cooperating 
                in outstanding criminal proceedings in the United 
                States in which a Saudi citizen or national departed 
                from the United States while the citizen or national 
                was awaiting trial or sentencing for a criminal offense 
                committed in the United States.
                    (C) The Government of Saudi Arabia has made 
                significant numerical reductions in individuals 
                detained for peaceful political reasons, including 
                activists, journalists, bloggers, lawyers, or critics.
                    (D) The Government of Saudi Arabia has disbanded 
                any units of its intelligence or security apparatus 
                dedicated to the forced repatriation of dissidents or 
                critical voices in other countries.
                    (E) The Government of Saudi Arabia has made 
                meaningful commitments to a multilateral framework on 
                the lawful use, sale, transfer of digital surveillance 
                items and services that can be used to abuse human 
                rights.
                    (F) The Government of Saudi Arabia has instituted 
                meaningful legal reforms to protect the rights of 
                freedom of expression, religion, women's rights, and 
                due process in its judicial system.
            (2) Report.--Accompanying the certification described in 
        paragraph (1), the President shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees a report that contains a detailed 
        description of Saudi Arabia's adherence to the criteria 
        described in the certification.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on the Judiciary, and the Permanent Select Committee on 
                Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on the Judiciary, and the Select Committee on 
                Intelligence of the Senate.
            (3) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 595.304 of title 31, Code of 
        Federal Regulations (as in effect on the day before the date of 
        the enactment of this Act), except that such term does not 
        include an entity (as such term is described in such section).
            (4) Foreign person who is a-1 visa eligible.--The term 
        ``foreign person who is A-1 visa eligible'' means an alien 
        described in section 101(a)(15)(A)(i) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(A)(i)).
            (5) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 4. REPORT AND SUSPENSION OF ASSISTANCE FOR INCIDENTS OF ARBITRARY 
              DETENTION, VIOLENCE, AND STATE-SANCTIONED HARASSMENT BY 
              THE GOVERNMENT OF SAUDI ARABIA AGAINST UNITED STATES 
              CITIZENS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, the Secretary of 
State, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and 
the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a report on incidents of 
arbitrary detention, violence, and state-sanctioned harassment by the 
Government of Saudi Arabia against United States citizens and their 
family members who are not United States citizens, in the United States 
and foreign countries.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required by subsection (a) 
shall include--
            (1) a detailed description of such incidents in the past 5 
        years;
            (2) a certification of whether Saudi Arabia is engaging in 
        a ``pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment directed 
        against individuals in the United States'' pursuant to section 
        6 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2756); and
            (3) any other actions taken to deter incidents of 
        intimidation or harassment against Americans and their families 
        by such government's security agencies.
    (c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted 
in unclassified form.
    (d) Suspension of Assistance.--If the President determines in any 
report issued pursuant to subsection (a) that the Government of Saudi 
Arabia has engaged in a pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment 
directed against individuals in the United States, the President shall 
cancel or suspend any letters of offer, credits, guarantees, or export 
licenses with such government, in compliance with section 6 of the Arms 
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2756) until such time as the President 
determines that the pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment has 
ceased.
    (e) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 
        Armed Services, and the Permanent Select Committee on 
        Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
        Armed Services, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
        Senate.

SEC. 5. MEASURES TO DISASSOCIATE UNITES STATES SECURITY ASSISTANCE FROM 
              HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY THE GOVERNMENT OF SAUDI ARABIA.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of State shall issue draft regulations to be 
promulgated in the Foreign Affairs Manual that each individual 
concurrence by the Department of State for an instance of United States 
security assistance, including military-to-military activities and arms 
transfers, with the Government of Saudi Arabia shall be accompanied by 
the publication on a text-searchable website of an unclassified report 
that describes whether and how the provision of such assistance will 
``avoid identification of the United States, through such programs, 
with governments which deny to their people internationally recognized 
human rights and fundamental freedoms, in violation of international 
law or in contravention of the policy of the United States'' in 
accordance with section 502B the Foreign Assistance Act (22 U.S.C. 
2304).
                                 <all>