Condemning Violations of International Law By the Government of Syria

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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.

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 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.

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.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source