Sen. Cornyn Introduces Bipartisan Genocide Accountability Act

Press Release

Sen. Cornyn Introduces Bipartisan Genocide Accountability Act

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee's Human Rights and the Law subcommittee, joined U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) on Thursday in introducing the Genocide Accountability Act. The bill would close a current loophole in federal law that prevents the U.S. Justice Department from prosecuting people in the United States who have committed genocide in other countries. The bill is also co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

"The genocide in Darfur has become the world's most dire human rights and humanitarian crisis," Sen. Cornyn said. "We must hold those guilty of atrocities responsible and ensure they are brought to justice. By closing the current loophole in federal law, this bill takes important steps to rid the world of genocide."

Under current law, genocide is only considered a crime if it is committed within the United States or by a U.S. national outside the United States. The Genocide Accountability Act would close the current loophole by amending the Genocide Convention Implementation Act to allow prosecution of non-U.S. citizens for genocide committed outside the United States.

The Justice Department has identified individuals who participated in the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides and who are living in the United States under false pretenses. Under current law, these individuals cannot be arrested or prosecuted for genocide, because they are not U.S. nationals and the acts in which they were involved did not take place in the United States. In contrast, the laws on torture, material support for terrorism, terrorism financing, hostage taking, and many other federal crimes are still considered crimes when committed outside the United States by non-U.S. nationals.

Salah Abdallah Gosh, the head of security in the Sudanese government, has reportedly played a key role in the government's genocidal campaign in Darfur. In 2005, Gosh came to Washington to meet with senior Administration officials. Under current law, the FBI could not even interview Gosh about his involvement in the Darfur genocide, much less charge him with a crime.

This is the first bill to be introduced by the subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, which was officially established at the Senate Judiciary Committee's first business meeting of the 110th Congress. The Human Rights subcommittee's first hearing was held in February and focused on the genocide in Darfur and other parts of the world.

The Genocide Accountability Act has been endorsed by numerous human rights organizations.

On a related note, Sen. Cornyn recently introduced the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act, which will increase pressure on the Khartoum government to stop the genocide in Darfur. The legislation provides federal support for state and local divestment efforts and expresses the sense of Congress that states and other entities should be allowed to divest their efforts of certain holdings in opposition to the genocidal policies of the Sudanese government, and authorizes-though does not require-such divestment.

Sen. Cornyn serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees. In addition, he is Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee's Immigration, Border Security and Refugees subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee's Airland subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.

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