Title: Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Sanction Terrorist Operations Using Human Shields Act of 2018 or the STOP Using Human Shields Act
This bill provides for the imposition of sanctions on members of foreign terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Hizballah, and other foreign persons, agencies, or instrumentalities of foreign states with regard to use of civilians, other specially protected persons, or specially protected property to shield lawful targets from attack or to deliberately cause casualties to such persons or the destruction to such property during an armed conflict.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3257 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3257

    To impose sanctions on foreign persons responsible for serious 
 violations of international law regarding the protection of civilians 
             during armed conflict, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 24, 2018

 Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
Scott, Mr. Markey, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Perdue) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To impose sanctions on foreign persons responsible for serious 
 violations of international law regarding the protection of civilians 
             during armed conflict, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Sanction Terrorist Operations Using 
Human Shields Act of 2018'' or the ``STOP Using Human Shields Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The international law of armed conflict prohibits, 
        during any armed conflict--
                    (A) the exploitation of the presence or movement of 
                civilians in an effort to impede attack on or otherwise 
                shield lawful targets;
                    (B) exposing prisoners of war, other detainees, the 
                wounded and sick, or other individuals subject to 
                special protection under international law, to 
                unnecessary risks resulting from the conduct of 
                hostilities;
                    (C) using such persons to impede attack on or 
                otherwise shield lawful targets; and
                    (D) deliberately causing the injury or death of 
                such persons.
            (2) Violating these prohibitions regarding civilians and 
        other specially protected persons is known as the use of 
        ``human shields'' and is a serious violation of international 
        law subjecting those responsible to individual criminal 
        liability.
            (3) The international law of armed conflict also prohibits 
        exposing property subject to special protection under 
        international law to unnecessary risks resulting from the 
        conduct of hostilities, including a prohibition against using 
        such property to impede attack on or otherwise shield lawful 
        targets from attack or to deliberately cause destruction of 
        such property. Such use of specially protected property is a 
        serious violation of international law, subjecting those 
        responsible to individual criminal responsibility.
            (4) Every party to an armed conflict is prohibited under 
        international law from using human shields in an attempt to 
        cause law-abiding armed forces to forgo attacks on otherwise 
        lawful targets.
            (5) When law-abiding armed forces do attack in such 
        situations, the party using human shields frequently hopes to 
        discredit the law-abiding opponent by blaming the opponent for 
        civilian casualties, which are in fact attributable to the 
        unlawful use of human shields.
            (6) Terrorist groups routinely use human shields to force 
        law-abiding opponents to conduct attacks in circumstances where 
        civilian casualties become unavoidable. While this unlawful 
        tactic in no way absolves an attacking force from its 
        obligations to do everything feasible to mitigate the risk of 
        such casualties, such illegal tactics inevitably influence the 
        efficacy of feasible precautions.
            (7) In accordance with the proportionality rule, an 
        assessment of the legality of attack indicates that these 
        terrorist groups bear responsibility for such casualties when 
        such attack is otherwise legally permissible.
            (8) Hizballah, designated by the Secretary of State as a 
        foreign terrorist organization, has repeatedly used human 
        shields. Throughout its 2006 conflict with Israel, Hizballah 
        forces purposefully used civilians in an effort to shield 
        themselves against attacks by Israeli forces, including by 
        storing weapons inside civilian homes and launching attacks 
        from firing positions in areas of dense civilian population, 
        often in or near homes, schools, mosques or hospitals, in order 
        to shield such positions from attack.
            (9) Hizballah has since rearmed and built up an arsenal of 
        some 150,000 rockets and missiles, in addition to other 
        destabilizing weapons, provided by the Iranian and Syrian 
        governments. These weapons, as well as Hizballah command posts, 
        logistics depots, and other vital military assets, are often 
        concealed in Shiite villages in southern Lebanon, frequently 
        within or near homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
            (10) Hamas, also designated by the Secretary of State as a 
        foreign terrorist organization, has also repeatedly used human 
        shields. Hamas routinely and purposefully uses civilians and 
        the civilian population to shield military assets from attack, 
        including by launching attacks from firing positions in areas 
        of dense civilian population, often in or near schools, 
        mosques, or hospitals, in order to shield such positions from 
        attack.
            (11) Other unlawful Hamas tactics include discouraging 
        Palestinian civilians from heeding Israeli warnings, 
        instructing Palestinian civilians to remain in their homes, and 
        encouraging or forcing Palestinian civilians to gather on the 
        roofs of their homes to act as human shields. In June 2017 and 
        again in October 2017, the United Nations Relief and Works 
        Agency announced that it had discovered Hamas tunnels under its 
        schools in the Gaza Strip.
            (12) On December 10, 2014, the 113th Congress unanimously 
        adopted H. Con. Res. 107, a bicameral and bipartisan resolution 
        in which Congress ``strongly condemns the use of innocent 
        civilians as human shields'', ``calls on the international 
        community to recognize and condemn Hamas' use of human 
        shields'', ``places responsibility for the rocket attacks 
        against Israel on Hamas and other terrorist organizations, such 
        as Palestine Islamic Jihad'', and ``supports the sovereign 
        right of the Government of Israel to defend its territory and 
        its citizens from Hamas' rocket attacks, kidnapping attempts, 
        and the use of tunnels and other means to carry out attacks 
        against Israel''.
            (13) In addition to Hizballah and Hamas, other groups 
        designated by the Secretary of State as foreign terrorist 
        organizations, including the Islamic State, Palestinian Islamic 
        Jihad, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, and al Qai'da, have repeatedly 
        used similar human shield tactics in violation of international 
        law.
            (14) The international community has routinely failed to 
        hold terrorist organizations and their personnel accountable 
        for the use of human shields. In addition, unlike many state 
        actors, there is no indication that terrorist organizations 
        possess the capability or the will to investigate and prosecute 
        their members for the use of human shields (or indeed any other 
        war crimes). Instead, many terrorist organizations routinely 
        use human shields as a deliberate tactic during armed conflict, 
        reflecting a complete disregard for the obligations established 
        by international law to mitigate the risk to civilians.
            (15) Absent appropriate and consistent international, 
        national, and public condemnation and enforcement of the 
        prohibitions against using human shields, terrorist 
        organizations will likely continue to engage in such criminal 
        exploitation of civilians during armed conflicts.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States to--
            (1) officially and publicly condemn terrorist organizations 
        and others that violate the international law of armed conflict 
        by exploiting civilians, other persons specially protected by 
        international law, or specially protected property, in order to 
        impede attack on or otherwise shield lawful targets from 
        attack, deliberately cause injury or death to civilians or 
        other specially protected persons, or destroy specially 
        protected property; and
            (2) take effective action against those knowingly engaging 
        in, encouraging, supporting, ordering, controlling, directing, 
        facilitating, enabling, or otherwise being complicit in such 
        violations of international law or attempts to commit such 
        violations.

SEC. 4. UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL.

    The President should direct the United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and 
influence of the United States at the United Nations Security Council 
to secure support for a resolution that would--
            (1) emphasize that the law of armed conflict imposes an 
        obligation on all parties to any armed conflict, including non-
        state organized armed groups, of compliance;
            (2) condemn the use of human shields and reinforce that 
        such use is a violation of international law;
            (3) impose multilateral sanctions against terrorist 
        organizations for the use of human shields;
            (4) require member states of the United Nations to take 
        specific steps to prevent the use of human shields and impose 
        consequences on those who use, attempt to use, or encourage or 
        support the use of human shields;
            (5) require organizations and agencies of the United 
        Nations to track and report the use of human shields in 
        monitored conflicts; and
            (6) specify steps to prevent, and consequences for, the use 
        of United Nations personnel or facilities as human shields.

SEC. 5. SANCTIONS ON FOREIGN PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR SERIOUS VIOLATIONS 
              OF INTERNATIONAL LAW REGARDING THE PROTECTION OF 
              CIVILIANS DURING ARMED CONFLICT.

    (a) In General.--The President shall impose the sanctions described 
in subsection (c) with respect to each person on the list required 
under subsection (b).
    (b) List.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a list of the following:
                    (A) Each foreign person that the President 
                determines, based on credible evidence--
                            (i) is a member of a group designated by 
                        the Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist 
                        organization pursuant to section 219 of the 
                        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                        1189), including Hamas or Hizballah, or is 
                        acting on behalf of such a group; and
                            (ii) knowingly encouraged, ordered, 
                        controlled, or otherwise directed or was 
                        complicit in, any attempt to use civilians or 
                        other persons specially protected by 
                        international law, or property specially 
                        protected by international law, to shield 
                        lawful targets from attack or to deliberately 
                        cause casualties to civilians or other 
                        specially protected persons or destruction to 
                        specially protected property.
                    (B) Each foreign person, or each agency or 
                instrumentality of a foreign state, that the President 
                determines has knowingly, on or after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act--
                            (i) encouraged, supported, ordered, 
                        controlled, directed, or significantly 
                        facilitated, directly or indirectly, or 
                        otherwise been complicit in any act described 
                        in subparagraph (A)(ii) by a person listed 
                        pursuant to such subparagraph; or
                            (ii) attempted to encourage, support, 
                        order, control, direct, significantly 
                        facilitate, or otherwise be complicit in any 
                        such act by any person so listed.
            (2) Updates.--The President shall transmit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees an update of the list 
        required under paragraph (1) as new information becomes 
        available.
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Blocking of property.--The President shall exercise all 
        of the powers granted to the President under the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the 
        extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in 
        property and interests in property of a foreign person or 
        agency or instrumentality of a foreign state on the list 
        required by subsection (b) if such property or interests in 
        property are in the United States, come within the United 
        States, or are or come within the possession or control of a 
        United States person.
            (2) Aliens ineligible for visas, admission, or parole.--
                    (A) Visas, admission, or parole.--An alien who the 
                Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security (or a designee of either such Secretary) 
                determines is a foreign person on the list required 
                under subsection (b) is--
                            (i) inadmissible to the United States;
                            (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
                        documentation to enter the United States; and
                            (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
                        or paroled into the United States or to receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--
                            (i) In general.--Any visa or other 
                        documentation issued to an alien who is a 
                        foreign person on the list required under 
                        subsection (b), regardless of when such visa or 
                        other documentation was issued, shall be 
                        revoked and such alien shall be denied 
                        admission to the United States.
                            (ii) Effect of revocation.--A revocation 
                        under clause (i)--
                                    (I) shall take effect immediately; 
                                and
                                    (II) shall automatically cancel any 
                                other valid visa or documentation that 
                                is in the possession of the alien who 
                                is the subject of such revocation.
                    (C) Exception to comply with united nations 
                headquarters agreement.--The sanctions under this 
                paragraph shall not be imposed on an individual if 
                admitting such individual to 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 with other 
                applicable international agreements.
    (d) Waiver.--The President may, on a case-by-case basis, waive the 
application of a sanction under this section with respect to a person 
or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state for periods not 
longer than 180 days if the President certifies to the appropriate 
congressional committees that such waiver is in the national security 
interest of the United States.
    (e) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and 
(c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to any person that violates, attempts to 
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of any regulation 
promulgated to carry out this section to the same extent that such 
penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act described in 
section 206(a) of such Act.
    (f) Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The President may exercise all authorities 
        provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 
        1704) for purposes of carrying out this section.
            (2) Issuance of regulations.--Not later than 180 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 
        prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to implement 
        this section.
    (g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            (1) to limit the authorities of the President pursuant to 
        the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 
        et seq.) or any other relevant provision of law; or
            (2) to apply with respect to any activity subject to the 
        reporting requirements under title V of the National Security 
        Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.), or to any authorized 
        intelligence activities of the United States.

SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed as an authorization of the 
use of force.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Agency or instrumentality of a foreign state.--The term 
        ``agency or instrumentality of a foreign state'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 1603(b) of title 28, United 
        States Code.
            (3) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Financial Services, the 
                Committee on Ways and Means, and the Committee on 
                Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate.
            (4) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 594.304 of title 31, Code of 
        Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of the enactment 
        of this Act.
            (5) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' has the meaning given such term in section 594.315 of 
        title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date 
        of the enactment of this Act.
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