A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the atrocities perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. 2016-07-07 Passed Senate amended (This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on April 28, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Expresses the sense of the Senate that:

  • the atrocities perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against Christians, Yezidis, Shi'a, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;
  • all governments and international organizations should call ISIL atrocities war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;
  • U.N. member states should coordinate on measures to prevent further war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by ISIL in Iraq and Syria, and to punish those responsible for these ongoing crimes, including by the collection of evidence and, if necessary, the establishment of appropriate tribunals;
  • the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Lebanese Republic, the Republic of Turkey, and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq are to be commended for, and supported in, their efforts to shelter those fleeing violence from ISIL and other combatants until they can safely return to their homes in Iraq and Syria; and
  • the protracted Syrian civil war and the indiscriminate violence of the Assad regime have contributed to ISIL's growth.
]]> 2016-04-28 Reported to Senate amended Expresses the sense of the Senate that:

  • the atrocities perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against Christians, Yezidis, Shi'a, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;
  • all governments and international organizations should call ISIL atrocities war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;
  • U.N. member states should coordinate on measures to prevent further war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by ISIL in Iraq and Syria, and to punish those responsible for these ongoing crimes, including by the collection of evidence and, if necessary, the establishment of appropriate tribunals;
  • the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Lebanese Republic, the Republic of Turkey, and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq are to be commended for, and supported in, their efforts to shelter those fleeing violence from ISIL and other combatants until they can safely return to their homes in Iraq and Syria; and
  • the protracted Syrian civil war and the indiscriminate violence of the Assad regime have contributed to ISIL's growth.
]]> 2015-12-18 Introduced in Senate Finds that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), its affiliated organizations, and supporters are parts of an expanding worldwide criminal network.

Finds that ISIS and its affiliated organizations maintain publishing and social media networks that seek to attract others to join their efforts and to incite the murder of Christians, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Jews, and any religious believers who refuse to convert to their jihadist ideology.

Declares that ISIS and its leaders should be charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Calls upon:

  • the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute any U.S. citizens or residents alleged to be perpetrators of or complicit in these crimes; and
  • the Department of the Treasury to investigate and sanction any person, organization, business, or financial institution alleged to be perpetrators of or complicit in these crimes.

Calls on the President, the Department of State, and the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, working through the Security Council and its member states, to provide humanitarian assistance, protect civilians, and help reestablish livelihoods for displaced and persecuted persons in their communities of origin.

Calls upon the contracting parties to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and other similar international agreements to join with the United States to investigate, arrest, and prosecute individual and organizational perpetrators responsible for such crimes.

Calls upon the Secretary-General to urge member states to cooperate in an international effort to investigate, try, and prosecute all cases in which the accused have committed such crimes.

Appeals to the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to collaborate on establishment of domestic, regional, and hybrid international tribunals with jurisdiction to punish the individuals and organizations responsible for or complicit in such crimes.

Commends the governments of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and every other country sheltering individuals fleeing the violence of ISIS.

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