[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2224 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2224
To provide for the payment of claims of United States prisoners of war
in the First Gulf War, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 22, 2003
Mrs. Capito (for herself, Mr. Goode, and Mr. Camp) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary,
and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the payment of claims of United States prisoners of war
in the First Gulf War, 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 ``Prisoner of War Protection Act of
2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The mistreatment of prisoners of war of the United
States has been a serious recurring problem in war after war,
and is of immediate concern to the Nation.
(2) The United States takes great pride in the protection
of its service men and women, and finds intolerable the
recurring pattern of mistreatment of its prisoners of war.
(3) The Third Geneva Convention mandates that prisoners of
war must at all times be treated humanely, and that the willful
killing, torture, or inhuman treatment or willfully causing
great suffering or serious injury to body or health are ``grave
breaches'' of the Convention.
(4) Article 129 of the Third Geneva Convention mandates
that ``Each High Contracting Party shall be under the
obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or
to have ordered to be committed . . . grave breaches, and shall
bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its
own courts.''.
(5) Article 131 of the Third Geneva Convention provides
that ``No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve
itself or any other High Contracting Party of any liability
incurred by itself or by another High Contracting Party in
respect of [grave] breaches . . .''.
(6) Both the United States and the Republic of Iraq are
High Contracting Parties to the Third Geneva Convention, and
more than 170 countries, as state parties to the convention,
have assumed its obligations.
(7) The Third Geneva Convention mandates that prisoners of
war ``must at all times be protected . . . against insults and
public curiosity''; the Iraqi practice in both the First and
Second Gulf Wars of subjecting United States prisoners of war
to coerced propaganda videotapes is therefore a violation of
the Convention.
(8) During the First Gulf War, the House of
Representatives, in response to the propaganda videotapes,
passed House Concurrent Resolution 48 on January 23, 1991, by a
vote of 418-0, condemning ``the flagrant and deliberate
violations'' by Iraq resulting in the brutal torture and
inhumane treatment of United States prisoners of war during
that war, and the Senate, also in response to the patent abuse
of the prisoners of war, passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 5
on January 24, 1991, by a vote of 99-0, demanding that ``Iraq
abide by the principles and the obligations of the Third Geneva
Convention concerning the treatment of prisoners of war . . .
.'' and condemning Iraq's failure to do so; subsequently, Iraq
ignored these resolutions of the Congress and continued to
brutally mistreat United States prisoners of war.
(9) Seventeen United States prisoners of war from the First
Gulf War and 37 of their family members have brought an
historic action in the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia against the Republic of Iraq, the Iraqi
Intelligence Service, and Saddam Hussein in his capacity as
President of the Republic of Iraq, for the brutal torture of
the prisoners of war while held by Iraq during the First Gulf
War. In this action--
(A) an entry of default was entered against
defendants on September 25, 2002; and
(B) the factual and legal submissions for a
judgment by the court, including detailed sworn
affidavits as to Iraq's brutal torture, were submitted
to the court on March 31, 2003.
Those sworn affidavits show shocking brutality directed against
the United States prisoners of war by Iraq.
(10) The Congress determined, in enacting section
1605(a)(7) of title 28, United States Code, permitting suit
against terrorist states for personal injury or death caused by
an act of torture, which was the legal basis for this historic
action against Iraq by the tortured United States prisoners of
war, that substantial civil damages are an important additional
deterrent against such acts of torture directed against
nationals of the United States.
(11) The Republic of Iraq and its agencies,
instrumentalities, and controlled entities had approximately
$1,730,000,000 in blocked assets in the United States at the
start of the Second Gulf War.
(12) Those assets were vested by the Executive Order 13290
of March 20, 2003, for the purpose of assisting in the
reconstruction of Iraq.
(13) Approximately $300,000,000 of the blocked assets were
initially set aside for the satisfaction of civil judgments
obtained by United States hostages held in Iraq during the
First Gulf War, but no amount of the blocked assets was set
aside for those plaintiffs who were United States prisoners of
war and who, at that time, already had an entry of default
against Iraq.
(14) The plaintiffs in the historic case against Saddam
Hussein and Iraq who were United States prisoners of war have
established a nonprofit Foundation for the assistance of United
States and Allied prisoners of war and those missing in action
and their families, and have pledged to the court that a
substantial amount of any noncompensatory damages realized from
the case will be donated to the new Foundation.
(15) The Republic of Iraq has great national wealth, with
proven oil reserves of at least 110,000,000,000 barrels, second
only to Saudi Arabia, and 3 times those of the United States,
and when its reserves are fully developed they may even exceed
those of Saudi Arabia.
(16) Other nations have not absolved Iraq of its state
obligations under the Third Geneva Convention arising from the
First Gulf War and other sources, and the torture and inhuman
treatment of United States prisoners of war during the First
Gulf War are, in any event, a ``non-absolvable liability'' of
the state of Iraq.
(17) Iraq has not accounted for one of the United States
prisoners of war held by Iraq during the First Gulf War.
(18) In the Second Gulf War, Iraq is in violation of the
Third Geneva Convention by subjecting United States prisoners
of war to coerced propaganda videotapes, and there are
disturbing reports of the willful killing and mistreatment of
United States prisoners of war by Iraq, violations condemned in
Senate Concurrent Resolution 31, which passed on April 9, 2003,
by a vote of 99-0, and in House Concurrent Resolution 118,
which passed on March 27, 2003, by a vote of 419-0.
(19) The United States has a critical national interest in
ensuring the protection of United States prisoners of war,
enhancing compliance with the Third Geneva Convention, and in
taking immediate decisive action that could contribute to the
protection of United States prisoners of war.
SEC. 3. POLICY REGARDING PERSONS.
(a) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States, in accordance
with article 129 of the Third Geneva Convention, to search out and try
before its courts persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered
to be committed, grave breaches of the Third Geneva Convention against
United States prisoners of war, including willful killing, torture, and
inhumane treatment.
(b) Implementation.--The United States will vigorously implement
the policy set forth in subsection (a) toward those persons who have
mistreated United States prisoners of war during the First and Second
Gulf Wars, including those in the Iraqi Government who have ordered or
carried out any such mistreatment.
SEC. 4. POLICIES REGARDING COUNTRIES.
(a) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States, in accordance
with article 131 of the Third Geneva Convention, to hold liable
countries that commit grave breaches against United States prisoners of
war, including willful killing, torture, and inhumane treatment. As a
High Contracting Party to the Third Geneva Convention, the United
States will not absolve such states of any such liability.
(b) Payment of Claims.--In carrying out the policy set forth in
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury, at the request of the
plaintiffs, shall pay from the Treasury, in full, but in an amount not
exceeding the sum of those blocked funds of Iraq and its agencies,
instrumentalities, and controlled entities that were vested by
Executive Order 13290 of March 20, 2003, for the purpose of assisting
in the reconstruction of Iraq, any judgment in Civil Action No. 02-0632
in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
brought by United States prisoners of war and their family members
against the Republic of Iraq, the Iraqi Intelligence Service, and
Saddam Hussein in his capacity as President of the Republic of Iraq,
for the brutal torture of those United States prisoners of war during
the First Gulf War. The United States shall be fully subrogated against
the Republic of Iraq for payments made under this subsection.
SEC. 5. POLICY WITH RESPECT TO PRISONERS OF WAR IN SECOND GULF WAR.
If, following the Second Gulf War, it becomes evident that United
States prisoners of war have been killed, tortured, or mistreated
during that war, or that the unaccounted for United States prisoner of
war from the First Gulf War was killed or tortured by Iraq, it shall be
the policy of the United States to support the claims of those United
States prisoners of war and their immediate family members against the
Republic of Iraq, for resolution on the basis of the same policy as is
set forth in section 4.
SEC. 6. DEFINITION.
In this Act, the term ``Third Geneva Convention'' means the Geneva
Convention of 1949 relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
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