[Pages H1312-H1314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

CONDEMNING VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW BY THE GOVERNMENT OF SYRIA

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 121) 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 addressed, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

H. Con. Res. 121

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 Government of
Syria led by President Bashar al-Assad and its allies,
specifically the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of
Iran, and Iran's terrorist proxies including Hezbollah;
Whereas the Government of Syria reportedly has subjected
nearly 1,000,000 civilians to devastating sieges and
manipulated 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 civilians 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 Independent
International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian 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 including
bakeries, hospitals, markets, and schools, contrary 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
allies 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 violence
against civilians;
Whereas these continued violations of international law,
without any promise of accountability, jeopardize hope for
establishing 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
analysis of documentation related to the ongoing violations
of human rights, the coordination of Syrian and international
actors working on documentation and transitional justice
efforts, and education and outreach on transitional justice
concepts and processes, including efforts 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
established ad hoc or regional tribunals through the United
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
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,
the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the
Special Court for Sierra Leone, have successfully
investigated and prosecuted war crimes, crimes against
humanity, and genocide, and there are many positive lessons
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 unlawful 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 additional
mechanisms for the protection of civilians and to ensure
consistent and equitable access to humanitarian aid for
vulnerable populations;
(4) urges the United States to continue its support for
efforts to collect and analyze documentation related to
ongoing violations of human rights in Syria, and to
prioritize the collection of evidence that can be used to
support future prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against
humanity committed by the Government of Syria, its allies,
and other parties to the conflict;
(5) urges the President to direct the United States
representative to the United Nations to use the voice and
vote of the United States to immediately promote the
establishment of a Syrian war crimes tribunal, a regional or
international hybrid court to prosecute the perpetrators of
grave crimes committed by the Government of Syria, its
allies, and other parties to the conflict; and
(6) urges other nations to apprehend and deliver into the
custody of such a Syrian war crimes tribunal persons indicted
for war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in
Syria, and to provide information pertaining to such crimes
to the tribunal.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.

General Leave

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on this resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the U.N. Security Council should move immediately to
establish a Syrian war crimes tribunal. H. Con. Res. 121, which I
introduced, is a bipartisan piece of legislation backed by Chairman
Royce as well as by Eliot Engel and others, calling upon the
administration to pursue this policy goal, including using our voice
and vote at the United Nations.
Mr. Speaker, past ad hoc/regional war crimes tribunals, including
courts for Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia, have made a
significant difference, holding some of the worst mass murderers to
account with successful prosecutions followed by long jail sentences.
Who can forget the picture of the infamous former President of
Liberia, Charles Taylor, with his head bowed, incredulous that the
Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2012 meted out a 50-year jail term
for his crimes against humanity and war crimes.
According to the Syrian Center for Policy Research, approximately 5
years of wanton bloodshed in Syria has killed either directly or
indirectly an estimated 470,000 people. Other estimates put the death
toll at a quarter of a million.
While the United Nations long ago abandoned estimating the death toll
due to its inability to verify the veracity of the numbers, the war in
Syria has caused a massive loss of life, including genocide against
Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities, especially women
and children.
The International Syria Support Group, co-chaired by the United
States and Russia, as we all know, brokered a cessation of hostilities
that kicked in on February 27 that applies to all parties except ISIS
and al-Nusra.
While we all hope and pray the cease-fire holds as it goes into the
third week

[[Page H1313]]

and humanitarian groups gain access to sick, frail, and at-risk people,
the atrocities committed against Syria's population demand
accountability and justice.
There have been--I think I should point this out because many people
who are following the news know this--numerous violations of the cease-
fire by Assad and his forces.
In an opinion piece in Newsweek a few hours ago, it was noted that
``regime forces are openly bombing and, in some cases, launching ground
operations to capture key rebel territory without making any pretense
of attacking the Nusra Front.''
Further, the Syria Ceasefire Monitor ``reports 111 violations as of
March 9--almost all perpetuated by the Assad regime or Russian
forces.''
A Syrian court is needed for all the past, present, and--God forbid--
likely future atrocities being committed in Syria.
Rigorous investigations by a new Syrian court, followed by
prosecutions, convictions, and serious jail time for perpetrators of
crime on all sides will not only hold those responsible for war crimes
accountable, but will send a clear message that such barbaric behavior
has dire personal consequences. The victims and their loved ones, Mr.
Speaker, deserve no less.
Can a U.N. Security Council resolution establishing a Syrian war
crimes tribunal prevail? Yes, I believe. With a serious and sustained
diplomatic push by the United States and other interested parties, past
success in creating war crimes tribunals can, indeed, be prologue.

{time} 1600

Notwithstanding Russia's solidarity with Serbia during the Balkan
war, especially with Slobodan Milosevic, the International Criminal
Court Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was unanimously approved.
Ditto for the special court in Sierra Leone in 2002. The Rwanda
tribunal was created in 1994, with China choosing to abstain rather
than to veto that court.
At a Syrian war crimes court, no one on any side who commits
genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity would be precluded
from prosecution.
As I said, in the early 1990s, the Russians knew that the Yugoslav
court was designed to hold all transgressors liable, whether they be
Bosnian or Croats and not just Serbians and, again, they didn't veto
that particular court as it was established.
I believe the Russians and the Chinese can be persuaded to support or
at least abstain from blocking establishment of such a court.
An ad hoc or a regional court has significant advantages over the
International Criminal Court, or the ICC, as a venue for justice. For
starters, neither Syria nor the United States is a member of the ICC,
although mechanisms exist to push prosecutions there.
The ICC, however, has operated since 2002, and only boasts of only
two, two, just two, convictions. By way of contrast, the Yugoslav court
convicted 80 people; Rwanda, 61; and Sierra Leone, 9. Moreover, a
singularly focused Syrian tribunal that provides Syrians with a degree
of ownership could significantly enhance its effectiveness.
I chaired a Congressional hearing on establishing a Syrian war crimes
tribunal back in 2013, and included such great leaders as David Crane,
the former prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and
founder and chairman of the Syria Accountability Project.
Mr. Crane testified that the Syria Accountability Project has
collected data ``and built a framework by which President Assad and his
henchmen''--this is his quote--``along with members of the opposition
can be prosecuted openly and fairly.''
He and his team have ``developed a crime base matrix which catalogs
most of the incidents chronologically and highlights the violations of
the Rome Statute, the Geneva Conventions, as well as domestic Syrian
criminal law.''
Significantly, with respect to the ICC, Mr. Crane testified that ``it
lacks the capability and the political and diplomatic sophistication to
handle such a mandate.''
Indeed, I would like to relay some words that I had with David Crane
just a few hours ago; and he reminded us that it is important that the
Congress continue the quest to seek justice for the oppressed and work
on justice for the Syrian people, in particular, as we recall the fifth
anniversary of the beginning of the civil war in that country.
Tomorrow, March 15, marks the fifth anniversary of this horrific
conflict.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, accountability that is aggressive, predictable,
transparent, and applicable to all perpetrators of genocide and crimes
against humanity on all sides of the divide must be pursued now.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to commend the gentleman from New Jersey for authoring and
bringing this resolution to the floor.
Mr. Speaker, Syria and much of Iraq face two great evils. ISIS is
well-known to us, and its evil is established by them on their own Web
sites every day.
The second evil is the extremist Shiite alliance, consisting of Iran,
Assad, Hezbollah, and many of the Shiite militias based in Baghdad to
Basra. And, of course, this Shiite alliance is aided by Russia,
although today there were reports that give us a glimmer of hope that
Russia will be diminishing its role in the Syrian conflict.
The Shiite extremist alliance, I believe, is even more dangerous than
ISIS since they include two state actors and a nuclear program. And the
extremist Shiite alliance has killed more Americans than ISIS, from the
Marines who died in Lebanon in the 1980s, to the IEDs that were
manufactured in Iran and deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There is a substantial difference in style between these two evil
forces. When ISIS kills people, they put the beheadings on YouTube.
When Assad kills thousands with his barrel bombs, or even with chemical
weapons there for a while, Assad had the good taste to deny it. But
different styles do not mask the fact that we are confronted with two
great evils; and this resolution, I think, is an important step in
dealing with those evils.
This resolution condemns the gross violation of international law,
perpetrated by the Assad regime and those forces supporting Assad,
which have amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
We all hope that the current ceasefire holds and even holds better
than it has, but 5 years of civil war in Syria has shown us the use of
weapons we thought were relegated only to the history books, including
chemical weapons used by the Syrian government against its own
civilians.
Assad has conducted deliberate bombings of schools, hospitals, and
humanitarian sites for the clear purpose of causing civilians to flee,
and overall, he has conducted a brutal war that has killed hundreds of
thousands of Syrians and sent millions fleeing the country.
He has been aided in this process by the Iran Revolutionary Guard
Corps, whose chief spokesman redisclosed just last week how proud the
Revolutionary Guard Corps is of helping Assad and how Tehran is helping
to finance both Hezbollah and the Shiite militias that are helping
Assad.
The resolution before us today makes specific mention of the role
that Iran and the Shiite extremist militias are playing, and that is an
important part of the resolution. So I agree with the gentleman from
New Jersey. It is time to show the people who are committing these war
crimes that there will be a tribunal, that they will be personally held
to account.
And while I would hope that would drive home a message that would be
relevant both to those who direct ISIS and those surrounding Assad, I
think it will have a bigger impact on the generals around Assad who do
not view themselves as martyrs, but view themselves as powerful
individuals in Syria who would wish to travel and enjoy the good life
with money they have stolen and taken from the Syrian people.
So I do not see that I have any speakers on our side, and I have been
notified that I should not expect any, and for that reason, I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I do want to thank the
gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) for his very eloquent remarks
and strong support for this resolution. I urge support and passage of
this resolution.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duncan of Tennessee). The question is on
the motion offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith)

[[Page H1314]]

that the House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent
resolution, H. Con. Res. 121, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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