[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 390 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 390

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To provide emergency relief for victims of genocide, crimes against 
  humanity, and war crimes in Iraq and Syria, for accountability for 
         perpetrators of these crimes, 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 ``Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency 
Relief and Accountability Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria are 
        persecuted groups, and the Secretary of State of State declared 
        on March 17, 2016, that Daesh, also known as the Islamic State 
        of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), was responsible for genocide, crimes 
        against humanity, and other atrocity crimes against several of 
        these groups, including Christians and Yezidis.
            (2) According to the Department of State's annual reports 
        on international religious freedom, the number of Christians 
        living in Iraq has dropped from an estimated 800,000 to 1.4 
        million in 2002 to fewer than 250,000 in 2015, and the number 
        of Yezidis living in Iraq has dropped from 500,000 in 2013 to 
        350,000 to 400,000 in 2015.
            (3) The annual reports on international religious freedom 
        further suggest that Christian communities living in Syria, 
        which had accounted for between 8 and 10 percent of Syria's 
        total population in 2010, are now ``considerably'' smaller as a 
        result of the civil war, and that the population of 
        approximately 80,000 Yezidis in 2010 may now be larger because 
        of refugees from Iraq.
            (4) Local communities and entities have sought to mitigate 
        the impact of violence directed against religious and ethnic 
        minorities in Iraq and Syria, including the Chaldean Catholic 
        Archdiocese of Erbil (Kurdistan Region of Iraq), which has used 
        private funds to provide assistance to internally displaced 
        Christians, Yezidis, and Muslims throughout the greater Erbil 
        region, while growing needs and diminishing resources have made 
        it increasingly difficult to continue these efforts.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on the Judiciary, the Committee on Homeland Security, 
                and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 
                the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Homeland 
                Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Select 
                Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
            (2) Foreign terrorist organization.--The term ``foreign 
        terrorist organization'' mean an organization designated by the 
        Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant 
        to section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
        U.S.C. 1189(a)).
            (3) Humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs.--The 
        term ``humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs'', with 
        respect to an individual, includes water, sanitation, hygiene, 
        food security and nutrition, shelter and housing, 
        reconstruction, medical, education, and psychosocial needs.
            (4) Hybrid court.--The term ``hybrid court'' means a court 
        with a combination of domestic and international lawyers, 
        judges, and personnel.
            (5) Internationalized domestic court.--The term 
        ``internationalized domestic court'' means a domestic court 
        with the support of international advisers.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States to ensure that assistance for 
humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs of individuals who are 
or were nationals and residents of Iraq or Syria, and of communities 
from those countries, is directed toward those individuals and 
communities with the greatest need, including those individuals from 
communities of religious and ethnic minorities, and communities of 
religious and ethnic minorities, that have been identified as being at 
risk of persecution, forced migration, acts of genocide, crimes against 
humanity, or war crimes.

SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE ACCOUNTABILITY IN IRAQ AND SYRIA FOR ACTS OF 
              GENOCIDE, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, AND WAR CRIMES.

    (a) Assistance.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development are authorized 
to provide assistance, including financial and technical assistance, as 
necessary and appropriate to support the efforts of entities, including 
nongovernmental organizations with expertise in international criminal 
investigations and law, to undertake the following activities to 
address crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, and 
their constituent crimes, in Iraq since January 2014:
            (1) The conduct of criminal investigations.
            (2) The development of indigenous investigative and 
        judicial skills, including by partnering, directly mentoring, 
        and providing equipment and infrastructure where necessary, for 
        the purpose of effectively adjudicating cases consistent with 
        due process and respect for the rule of law.
            (3) The collection and preservation of evidence and the 
        chain of evidence, including for use in prosecutions in 
        domestic courts, hybrid courts, and internationalized domestic 
        courts, consistent with the activities described in subsection 
        (b).
    (b) Actions by Foreign Governments.--The Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall encourage governments of 
foreign countries--
            (1) to include in appropriate security databases and 
        security screening procedures of such countries information to 
        identify individuals who are suspected to have committed crimes 
        of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, and their 
        constituent crimes, in Iraq or Syria, including individuals who 
        are suspected to be members of foreign terrorist organizations 
        operating in Iraq or Syria; and
            (2) to prosecute such individuals for acts of genocide, 
        crimes against humanity, or war crimes, as appropriate.
    (c) Consultation.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary of 
State shall consult with and consider credible information from 
entities described in such subsection.

SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION OF AND ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS HUMANITARIAN, 
              STABILIZATION, AND RECOVERY NEEDS OF CERTAIN PERSONS IN 
              IRAQ AND SYRIA.

    (a) Identification.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with 
the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development, and Director of National Intelligence, 
shall seek to identify the following:
            (1) The threats of persecution and other early-warning 
        indicators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes 
        against individuals--
                    (A) who are or were nationals and residents of Iraq 
                or Syria, are members of religious or ethnic minority 
                groups in such countries, and with respect to which the 
                Secretary of State has determined ISIS has committed 
                acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war 
                crimes since January 2014; or
                    (B) who are members of other religious or ethnic 
                minority groups in Iraq or Syria and are identified by 
                the Secretary of State as persecuted groups.
            (2) The religious and ethnic minority groups in Iraq or 
        Syria identified pursuant to paragraph (1) that are at risk of 
        forced migration, within or across the borders of Iraq, Syria, 
        or a country of first asylum, and the primary reasons for such 
        risk.
            (3) The humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs of 
        individuals described in paragraphs (1) and (2), including the 
        assistance provided by the United States and by the United 
        Nations, respectively, to address the humanitarian, 
        stabilization, and recovery needs, and mitigate the risks of 
        forced migration, of individuals described in paragraphs (1) 
        and (2) and assistance provided through the Funding Facility 
        for Immediate Stabilization and Funding Facility for Expanded 
        Stabilization.
            (4) To the extent practicable and appropriate, the 
        entities, including faith-based entities, that are providing 
        assistance to address the humanitarian, stabilization, and 
        recovery needs of individuals described in paragraphs (1) and 
        (2) and the extent to which the United States is providing 
        assistance to or through such entities.
    (b) Additional Consultation.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
Secretary of State shall consult with, and consider credible 
information from, individuals described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
such subsection and entities described in paragraph (4) of such 
subsection.
    (c) Assistance.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development are authorized 
to provide assistance, including financial and technical assistance as 
necessary and appropriate, to support entities described in subsection 
(a)(4) that the Secretary and Administrator determine have access, and 
are capable of effectively managing and delivering such assistance, to 
the individuals described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of such subsection.

SEC. 7. REPORTS.

    (a) Implementation Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a report on the following:
            (1) A detailed description of the efforts taken, and 
        efforts proposed to be taken, to implement the provisions of 
        this Act.
            (2) An assessment of the feasibility and advisability of 
        prosecuting individuals for whom credible evidence exists of 
        having committed acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, or 
        war crimes in Iraq since January 2014 or Syria since March 2011 
        in domestic courts in Iraq, hybrid courts, and 
        internationalized domestic courts, and of the measures needed 
        to ensure effective criminal investigations of such 
        individuals, and to effectively collect and preserve evidence, 
        and preserve the chain of evidence, for prosecution.
            (3) Recommendations for legislative remedies and 
        administrative actions to facilitate implementation of this 
        Act.
    (b) Form.--The report required under this section shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex if 
necessary.

SEC. 8. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL FUNDING.

    No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act. This Act shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 
authorized.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 6, 2017.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
115th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 390

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

  To provide emergency relief for victims of genocide, crimes against 
  humanity, and war crimes in Iraq and Syria, for accountability for 
         perpetrators of these crimes, and for other purposes.