[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 114 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ATROCITIES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA:
RELIEF FOR SURVIVORS AND
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PERPETRATORS
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
__________
Printed for the use of the
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
[CSCE 114-2-5]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via www.csce.gov
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
21-915 PDF WASHINGTON : 2016
____________________________________________________________________
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office,
Internet:bookstore.gpo.gov. Phone:toll free (866)512-1800;DC area (202)512-1800
Fax:(202) 512-2104 Mail:Stop IDCC,Washington,DC 20402-001
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
HOUSE
SENATE
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi,
Chairman Co-Chairman
ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire
ALAN GRAYSON, Florida TOM UDALL, New Mexico
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania
LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER,
New York
EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
Vacant, Department of State
Vacant, Department of Commerce
Vacant, Department of Defense
[ii]
ATROCITIES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA:
RELIEF FOR SURVIVORS AND
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PERPETRATORS
----------
September 22, 2016
COMMISSIONERS
Page
Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 1
Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Ranking Member, Commission on Security
and Cooperation in Europe...................................... 5
Hon. Roger F. Wicker, Co-Chairman, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 7
Hon. Alan Grayson, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 7
Hon. Joseph R. Pitts, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 8
WITNESSES
Chris Engels, Deputy Director for Investigations and Operations,
the Commission for International Justice and Accountability.... 11
David Scheffer, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes
Issues......................................................... 13
Stephen M. Rasche, Esq., Legal Counsel and Director of IDP
Resettlement Programs, Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil,
Kurdistan Region, Iraq......................................... 14
William Canny, Executive Director, Migration Aid and Refugee
Services, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops......... 16
Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight, Knights of Columbus............ 18
[iii]
APPENDICES
Prepared statement of Hon. Christopher H. Smith.................. 34
Prepared statement of Hon. Roger F. Wicker....................... 36
Prepared statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin.................... 37
Prepared statement of Chris Engels............................... 39
Prepared statement of David Scheffer............................. 44
Prepared statement of Stephen M. Rasche.......................... 46
Prepared statement of William Canny.............................. 49
Prepared statement of Carl A. Anderson........................... 52
MATERIAL FOR THE RECORD
Submissions for the record from David Scheffer................... 56
Submission for the record from Stephen M. Rasche................. 66
ATROCITIES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA:
RELIEF FOR SURVIVORS AND
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PERPETRATORS
----------
September 22, 2016
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Washington, DC
The hearing was held at 10 a.m. in Room 2200, Rayburn House
Office Building, Washington, DC, Hon. Christopher H. Smith,
Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
presiding.
Commissioners present: Hon. Roger F. Wicker, Co-Chairman,
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Benjamin
L. Cardin, Ranking Member, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Alan Grayson, Commissioner,
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Hon.
Joseph R. Pitts, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.
Witnesses present: Chris Engels, Deputy Director for
Investigations and Operations, the Commission for International
Justice and Accountability; David Scheffer, former U.S.
Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues; Stephen M. Rasche,
Esq., Legal Counsel and Director of IDP Resettlement Programs,
Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq;
William Canny, Executive Director, Migration and Refugee
Services, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; and
Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight, Knights of Columbus.
HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Smith. The Commission will come to order, and good
morning to everybody. Thank you for being here, especially to
our very, very distinguished witnesses.
Seven months ago, the Independent International Commission
of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic reported that ``the
Syrian Government has committed crimes against humanity of
extermination, murder, rape or other forms of sexual violence,
torture, imprisonment, enforced disappearance and other inhuman
acts.'' More than half a year ago, Secretary of State John
Kerry declared that ISIS ``is responsible for genocide against
groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis,
Christians and Shia Muslims.'' They were acknowledging, in my
opinion, the facts on the ground and affirming what I and so
many of you in this room have been saying for many years.
The atrocities in Iraq and Syria have been so horrible for
so long and with so little action from the administration that
it has been difficult to hope. Nevertheless, when the Secretary
declared genocide, we dared to hope that finally the
administration would hear the voices of the victims and act.
Instead, the administration has said the right words;
unfortunately, it has not always done the right things.
I have chaired seven hearings focusing on genocide and
other atrocities committed in Iraq and Syria. In March, the
House passed almost unanimously the resolution that I authored,
H. Con. Res. 121, which is in the Senate now, advocating for
the formation of an ad hoc tribunal for perpetrators of the
Syrian conflict. This has gone nowhere. The administration has
seemed uninterested. I have brought this up directly with
Secretary Kerry and people right down the chain of command.
They always say they're looking at it, but so far nothing has
happened.
We had David Crane and other very distinguished people--he
was the chief prosecutor at the Sierra Leone war crimes
tribunal--testify, and make very powerful and persuasive
arguments that the ad hoc tribunal was the best and most
efficacious way to go. The ICC [International Criminal Court],
while it might work, probably was not suited to this activity;
it has only had two convictions in about 14 years, and every
one of those has been in sub-Saharan Africa. They might still
be able to do it. But an ad hoc tribunal will have the
flexibility and would give the ownership. But so far that has
not happened.
This May I chaired another hearing, and this time it was
entitled ``After the ISIS Genocide Declaration: What Next?'' Is
it one and done? Is it a declaration that has real follow-up?
Half a year later, we have the answer: not much.
When given the opportunity to speak about genocide during
his address to the entire U.N. General Assembly, President
Obama this week said nothing. How can he be silent about a
modern genocide that has been happening right now?
Administration officials have stated that it is in the
interests of the United States to enable Christians, Yazidis,
and other religious and ethnic communities to remain in their
ancient homelands of Iraq and Syria. Yet the administration has
so far refused to identify the humanitarian needs of these
communities and provide them with assistance so that they are
able to survive in their home country. Displaced genocide
survivors cannot pay for food, medicine or shelter with words
from Washington. It is inexcusable that we have not had the
kind of help for these individuals that they absolutely
require.
Shockingly, Steve Rasche, legal counsel and director of IDP
Resettlement Programs for the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of
Erbil in Iraq, will testify today that ``Throughout this entire
period of crisis, since August of 2014, other than initial
supplies and tents and tarps, the Christian community in Iraq
has received nothing in aid from any U.S. aid agencies or from
the United Nations.''
Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus,
provided a template for our legislation in his testimony at the
``What Next?'' hearing, where he laid out a very clear path
forward. He will also testify: ``We know that many Christian
and the Yazidi victims of genocide do not receive public aid.''
And the private aid, at about $26 million from multiple
sources, including the Knights of Columbus, Caritas and others,
is running out, if it has not run out already.
When he made his genocide declaration, Secretary Kerry said
that ``the United States will strongly support efforts to
collect, document, preserve, and analyze the evidence of
atrocities, and we will do all we can to see that the
perpetrators are held accountable.'' Yet the administration has
primarily treated the genocide, crimes against humanity, and
war crimes in Iraq and Syria as human rights violations that
need to be documented.
These crimes are indeed human rights violations. And
documentation, like the videos of the Assad regime bombing
hospitals and schools, helps raise awareness in real time. Yet,
first and foremost, they are crimes committed by perpetrators
who need to be investigated and prosecuted. This requires
collecting, preserving and preparing evidence that is usable in
criminal trials.
And I remember, because I was chair of the Helsinki
Commission at the time, and worked on the Yugoslav war crimes
tribunal, that while there was documentation, until that
tribunal was established there was no enforcement. And a lot of
lessons can be learned from that tribunal in terms of speed,
which we did not have, and also effective prosecutions.
Private groups like one we will hear from today are doing
this work, literally risking their lives, without financial
support from the United States. Chris Engels, from the
Commission for International Justice and Accountability, will
testify that ``CIJA's 130 personnel collect evidence, ensure
its safe storage, and undertake legal analysis with a view to
preparing trial-ready case files for present-day and future
criminal prosecutions in domestic and international
jurisdictions'' with funding from governments other than the
United States. There is no justification for leaving other
countries to ensure this work, so I hope we will get on board
and be more supportive of that.
When the executive branch fails to act, then the Congress
must require it to act. That is why I recently authored and
introduced the bipartisan Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and
Accountability Act of 2016, H.R. 5961, with Representative Anna
Eshoo as our lead cosponsor. She has been a tireless champion
for Christians and other religious communities brutalized by
ISIS and has consistently pushed the administration to act. So
I'm very grateful for her efforts. Our partnership is evidence
that this is not about partisanship. It is about partnership.
I would also point out that with my good friend and
colleague Senator Cardin, we have worked, along with Senator
Wicker, the co-chair, on religious freedom issues for decades.
So, again, this is about bipartisanship and an effort to really
make a difference on the ground, and not just talk about it.
Very quickly, on accountability, our new bill would require
the Secretary of State and the administrator of the U.S. Agency
for International Development to support entities that are
conducting criminal investigations into perpetrators and
building investigative and judicial capacities in Iraq. It
directs the Secretary of State to work with our allies to
ensure that identifying information about perpetrators is
included in security databases and security screening to enable
apprehension and prosecution; requires the Attorney General to
review U.S. criminal statutes for gaps in being able to
prosecute American perpetrators or foreign perpetrators present
in the U.S. And in part of our testimony today that we will
hear about how we have people who have committed crimes against
humanity walking the streets of the United States because we
don't have the sufficient capability in our legal code to
prosecute them, including people from Bosnia and elsewhere,
Liberia, and many other places, like Haiti. The testimony is
overwhelming.
On assistance for genocide survivors and other Iraqi and
Syrian religious and ethnic groups who have been persecuted,
the bill also requires the Secretary of State to identify
threats of persecution and other warning signs of genocide,
crimes against humanity or war crimes; which groups of genocide
survivors or other persecuted religious or ethnic communities
are at risk of forced migration, and the reasons for those
risks; U.S. assistance that has actually reached and is planned
to reach these communities--the $64,000 question: why isn't our
money flowing to these people who are suffering so immensely?--
and entities, including faith-based ones, that are effectively
providing assistance on the ground to these communities; U.S.
funding for such entities, if it is funding them and
justification if the administration is not. It also requires
the Secretary and USAID administrator to fund such entities.
Finally, H.R. 5961 requires the administration to designate
members of the three genocide-surviving groups, as well as
members of other persecuted religious and ethnic groups, that
are of particular humanitarian concern to the United States.
This would create a Priority Two, often known as P-2, category.
Individuals who meet the criteria would be able to access the
overseas interview process for the U.S. Refugee Admissions
Program without needing a referral from the U.N., an NGO or the
U.S. Government.
Under U.S. law, the Administration can make a P-2
designation anytime--they could do it today--without needing
additional authorization from Congress. The U.S. has a long
history of P-2 designations--some created and required by
Congress, like Jews from the former Soviet Union; and some
created by the administration, like ethnic minorities from
Burma and in Malaysia.
The bill is clear: they would have to clear the same
security screenings as other Iraqi and Syrian refugees before
they can be admitted to the U.S. One can vote for the SAFE Act,
as I did, but also support the P-2 provision, as I am doing
now. This P-2 designation provides an extra avenue for
displaced genocide survivors to get into the U.S. Refugee
Admissions Application Program.
I ask my fellow commissioners if they would look at this
bill carefully to see if they can support it. Again, when we
look at the numbers of how many Syrian Christians are actually
being admitted through the admissions process, it is far less
than one-half of 1 percent, and that's unconscionable.
I'd like to yield to Ranking Member Ben Cardin. Senator
Cardin.
HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, RANKING MEMBER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY
AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Cardin. Well, thank you, Chairman Smith. I very much
appreciate you calling this hearing. To me, this is one of the
most important areas for the Helsinki Commission to be engaged
in, dealing with atrocities in Iraq and Syria, relief for
survivors, and accountability for perpetrators.
It's also good to be here with my friend and the Senate Co-
Chair of the Helsinki Commission, Senator Wicker, who's been
one of the champions in the United States Senate on putting
spotlights on atrocities and human rights violations wherever
it may be, anywhere in the world, taking on powerful interests.
It's always good to see the leadership that comes out of the
Helsinki Commission in working on our other committees, and
whether it's the Appropriations Committee or whether it's the
Foreign Affairs or Foreign Relations Committee, to carry out
these issues.
My staff from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is
here. I mention that because I'm going to have to leave
shortly, but I wanted everyone to know how critically important
this hearing is. And, Mr. Chairman, I'm going to ask that my
full statement be made a part of the record so I can avoid a
senatorial-length opening statement and just make some brief
comments.
Atrocities really do represent the consequences, the
extreme consequences, of the failures of good governance. We
see that when you have corrupt regimes and weak democratic
institutions, it leads to the failure of government, which
leads to the vacuums that create the climate in which
atrocities can take place, including genocide, and that we
ignore these issues or don't place a high enough priority on
these issues at our own risk.
So you're going to hear, at least from this senator, that
we need to focus our foreign policy on dealing with corruption,
on dealing with good governance, on dealing with developing
democratic institutions. We need to do that through how we use
our foreign assistance budget, and it has to be more focused
towards these priorities. We need to do this in our diplomacy,
putting a higher priority on these issues. We need to do this
through our economic relations, including our trade policies.
All of the above. And as Chairman Smith has pointed out, we
also need to do this through legislation.
Clearly Syria represents one of the great failures of our
time. The Assad regime has clearly put the climate for
atrocities that are being committed, has perpetrated
atrocities, and as the Chairman pointed out, this amounts to
genocide. Two thousand barrel bombs have been dropped--I think
over 2,000 now--and then by accounts, there are over 400,000
nonmilitary deaths in Syria.
You put on top of that the tragedy of ISIS, which is also
operating in Syria, and the atrocities that they are
committing--clearly aimed and targeted both at religious and
ethnic minorities. That's genocide. That's what we're trying to
deal with.
So let me just lay out four bills that I would just urge
the members of the Commission to pay attention to. I think the
Congress can play a significant role in helping provide the
tools in our country to deal with atrocity prevention and to
deal with accountability.
First, we need to deal with the underlying problem of
corruption. Chairman Smith and Chairman Wicker have both been
very actively engaged with other members, and I'm proud of the
role that I've played, in dealing with human trafficking,
modern day slavery. And we decided we had to put a real
spotlight on it. But more than that, we had to develop the
protocols that we expect countries to follow in order to have
acceptable conduct. So we have tier ratings. And there are
consequences to not having satisfactory progress on dealing
with human trafficking. It affects our foreign assistance, it
affects our trade policies, it affects U.S. diplomacy.
I think we need a similar effort in regards to corruption.
Corruption is a cancer in a country. Recently, I was with the
National Security Council members as we talked about the impact
that global corruption has on the national security of our
country. It is the first sign, it is the climate that produces
the failures that lead to atrocities.
Secondly, as the Chairman has mentioned, I think we need to
pass and authorize the Genocide and Atrocity Prevention Act.
I've introduced similar legislation in the Senate, and it's
legislation that we need to get passed. It builds on our
current programs, but engages the civil societies working with
us so that we can see the first signs of trouble and act before
atrocities occur, so that we have warning signs and actions to
prevent atrocity.
Third, we have to have accountability. Accountability is a
critical component towards preventing future genocides. If
world leaders believe that they can commit these atrocities
without accountability, the next circumstance will lead to
atrocities. We've seen this over and over again.
This week, Mr. Chairman, we had a hearing in the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee on South Sudan. Just five years
ago, we celebrated the creation of the newest country in the
world. A little over a year ago, we celebrated a peace
agreement. We saw signs that peace agreement was not working.
Today it's in shambles. And the leaders of both factions are
openly using civilian targets as part of their military
strategy, killing and raping the civilian population. That's
occurring as we are having this hearing, in South Sudan. We can
mention so many other countries.
We need to have accountability. There's a bill that, I
think, is pretty close to the finish line, the Global Magnitsky
bill. This Commission was the spark that started the Magnitsky
legislation. We did it for Russia, now we're going to do it
globally, to say the perpetrators of these gross violations are
not going to get the benefits of our country, and other
countries have followed suit. We need to get that to the finish
line, and we're very close to getting that.
We need to pass a Syrian War Crimes Accountability Act,
just as the chairman said. It's one thing to have
documentation. It's another thing to have the mechanism in
place that can actually bring about justice. That bill needs to
make its way, to be finalized so that the United States takes
leadership in establishing the way in which the war criminals
in the Syrian atrocities can be held accountable. I think if we
were to deal with these legislations, we could really make
significant progress.
The bottom line is, as you've mentioned in regards to
documentation, documentation is important. What's happening
with the Assad regime, what's happening with ISIS, you need to
document because you need to have credible and impartial fact
finding. That's part of our justice system for international
credibility.
But you have to have transitional justice if you're going
to ever have peace in a country. You have to have transitional
justice. And transitional justice is the best defense against
the danger of collective blame, because only credible
accountability, that which the victims have confidence in, is
bringing closure to an issue. It is the only way that we can
prevent the continuing recycling of atrocities that we see too
frequently in our own lifetime. This hearing, I hope, will add
to our commitment to do everything we can to prevent
atrocities; and when we see these types of activities, those
who perpetrate it know they're going to be held accountable.
Mr. Smith. Senator Cardin, thank you very much for that
very eloquent statement. And I'd like to now yield to our co-
chair, Senator Wicker.
HON. ROGER F. WICKER, CO-CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Wicker. Thank you. And, Mr. Chairman and witnesses, I
will just make a few opening sentences and then we'll try to
get to testimony. This is a good hearing to have, and so thank
you, Mr. Chairman. Today we hope to shine the light on
atrocities in Iraq and Syria.
The oppression of Christians and other religious
communities in Syria and Iraq has led to an unspeakable
humanitarian crisis. Senator Cardin has described this in
depth. Hundreds of thousands have had to flee their homes to
seek sanctuary from the Islamic State, whose savage treatment
of these people is well documented. The United States has
historically protected minorities facing similar circumstances,
and we should do so again now. I commend my colleague Senator
Cardin for listing several specific acts that we could take.
I also want to say I'm delighted to see my fellow
Mississippian Chris Engels on the panel today. He will testify
this morning about the heroic and dangerous work he and his
colleagues at the Commission for International Justice and
Accountability are doing to investigate perpetrators of
atrocities in Iraq and Syria. I hope the U.S. Government will
support these vital criminal investigations.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses, like Senator
Cardin. There are many demands on our time, and perhaps members
of the House and Senate will have to be in and out.
Mr. Chairman, thank you again for calling this hearing and
for your proposals to help address the ongoing human tragedy in
Iraq and Syria. Thank you, sir, and thank you all.
Mr. Smith. Senator Wicker, thank you again so much for your
leadership and your great statement this morning and commitment
to this issue. I'd like to now yield to Mr. Grayson, a fellow
commissioner.
HON. ALAN GRAYSON, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Grayson. Thanks.
Twenty-five miles away from here in space and 150 years
away from here in time the Battle of Bull Run took place, the
first and second battles. Only 25 miles away meant that people
from Washington, D.C.--civilians, if you will--noncombatants
could go and watch. And in fact, they did. That represented a
civilized and simpler time as compared to what we have today.
Now I don't want to make it sound that all the course of
history has been downhill. In fact, at earlier times the
Mongols left piles of skulls outside of the cities that they
conquered--all civilians.
But we've seen a struggle all through human history over
the question of how are civilians treated during wartime. Are
they treated as spectators, as they were in the Battles of Bull
Run, or are they treated as victims or pawns, as they were by
the Mongol hordes sweeping across Western Asia and Eastern
Europe? The answer still is in flux. We haven't answered that
question yet.
And for those who believe that everything is like
everything else, we have a counterexample called ISIS. ISIS
represents a fundamentally different view of how to conduct
warfare than virtually every other organized military effort on
Planet Earth. I think you could find a few other analogies--
perhaps Boko Haram, maybe. But the fact is that torture as
policy, killing as policy, genocide as policy is something that
we thought maybe we had swept away from human history and left
behind us, and now it turns out that that is not true.
So the purpose of the hearing in part today is to
underscore the fact that something very important is in play
today all around the world still: the question of whether we
conduct our warfare in what amounts to an humane respect for
innocent people, or not. And that really gets to the crux of
the matter. Why do we call terrorism ``terrorism''? In part,
because it strikes terror into the hearts of innocent people.
It makes innocent people feel fearful. What we've done for the
past several centuries is make an effort to draw that line, to
keep that line, respect that line, and even fortify that line
between the combatants and the innocent.
We saw the line crossed and almost destroyed on 9/11. We
see the line crossed and destroyed every day in places like
Mosul. And it's up to us, the living, the people who represent
the better side of humanity, the spirits and good natures of
people who want everyone to be able to live in peace--it's up
to us to enforce that distinction, and that is, in my mind, the
central purpose of the hearing today: to make sure that people
who are in peace can live in peace and to make sure that the
lives of noncombatants are respected.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Grayson, thank you very much. Commissioner
Grayson.
I'd like to yield to Joe Pitts. Joe Pitts, besides being
chairman of the Subcommittee on Health and serving on the
Energy and Commerce Committee, is the co-chair of the Lantos
Human Rights Commission. Joe Pitts.
HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Pitts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding
this important timely hearing on fostering relief and
accountability amidst the genocide of religious minorities that
we're witnessing today. As we all know, the world has been
rattled by so-called Islamic State's attempts to eradicate
Christians, Yazidis and other religious/ethnic minorities from
their territory. In fact, I held my first hearing as co-chair
of the Lantos Commission on the ensuing human rights abuses of
the Islamic State in an effort to bring greater attention to
the depth, breadth and brutality of the terrorist group's
abuses. This hearing builds on the bipartisan efforts of many
initiatives, including the passage of resolutions declaring the
Islamic State as a perpetrator of genocide, calling for a Syria
War Crimes Tribunal.
Mr. Chair, Congress has rightly characterized these heinous
acts as war crimes, crimes against humanity. The administration
followed suit. The European Union has also designated these
abuses as constituting genocide. One international organization
that has yet to make this designation is the United Nations.
Mr. Chairman, I call on the United Nations to designate these
abuses against religious minorities for what they are--
genocide--and further call on our administration to use its
voice and vote in that body to accomplish that end.
I'd like to take a moment to thank the countless NGOs,
human rights monitors, journalists, others outside of
government that give us insight into this dangerous situation.
The U.S. Government cannot be everywhere, and that is why it is
so important that we collaborate with outside groups and our
allies on how to stop these atrocities. That is why this
hearing is so important. Our government needs a concentrated
strategy on conducting criminal investigations, developing
investigative judicial capacities, evidence collection, and
prosecution. And we must augment our coordination with these
outside groups to help achieve that.
With that, I'd like to thank our witnesses for their work
in this field and look forward to their recommendations on how
we can best move forward to confront the aftermath of the
abuses that have so vexed the lands of Iraq and Syria. And with
that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Pitts.
I'd like to now introduce our distinguished panel, and they
are indeed distinguished, beginning first with Chris Engels,
who is a U.S. lawyer with over 10 years of international
experience, focusing on international criminal law and criminal
justice reform. He's currently deputy director for the
investigations and operations for the Commission for
International Justice and Accountability, or CIJA, a role in
which he oversees the organization's criminal investigations in
Syria and Iraq. His past posts include head of section for the
Justice Sector Support Project Afghanistan, director of the
criminal defense section of the Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
and acting deputy head of the defense section at the Khmer
Rouge Tribunal. He was recently head of rule of law for the
OSCE Mission in Bosnia, and worked in the office of the legal
advisor of the U.S. Mission in Kosovo.
We'll then hear from Ambassador David Scheffer, who was the
first U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, serving
from 1997 to 2001, during which time he chaired the Atrocities
Prevention Interagency Working Group of the U.S. Government. He
is currently the U.N. Secretary General's special expert on
U.N. assistance to the Khmer Rouge trials. In addition,
Ambassador Scheffer is the Director of the Center for
International Human Rights at Northwestern University, and
chairs the Working Group on Crimes Against Humanity of the
American Bar Association.
We will then hear from Mr. Steve Rasche, who is currently
serving as vice chancellor for the Catholic University in
Erbil, Iraq, which held its inaugural opening in December of
2015. Mr. Rasche serves as legal counsel and director of the
IDP resettlement for the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of
Erbil, reporting directly to Archbishop Bashar Warda.
In these roles, he divides his time between the United
States and Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where he
holds resident status. He has over 30 years of experience in
international business, in development projects, including
extensive work in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.
We will then hear from Mr. Bill Canny, who is the executive
director of the Department of Migration and Refugee Services at
the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. MRS annually
resettles more refugees in the United States than any other
agency. They resettled 18,114 refugees in fiscal year 2015,
including a little over 3,400 Iraqis and 268 Syrians.
Mr. Canny joined MRS in May of 2015. He has served as
secretary general of the International Catholic Migration
Commission and in various leadership roles within Catholic
Relief Services, including as director of emergency operations
for the period including the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.
Most recently, he was chief operating officer of the Papal
Foundation, which supports the personal charity initiatives of
Pope Francis.
Then we'll hear from Mr. Carl Anderson, who is the supreme
knight of the Knights of Columbus. They have achieved new
charitable records, including raising more than $11 million for
Christians and other persecuted minorities in the Middle East,
while also helping to spearhead the effort to have the
situation facing them declared a genocide. This included
producing, in partnership with In Defense of Christians, a
nearly 300-page report on the issue at the request of the U.S.
Department of State. And having read that, it was heavily
documented and very, very persuasive at that.
A lawyer, a New York Times best-selling author, a current
member of several Vatican committees, Carl Anderson served for
nearly a decade on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He
worked before that as acting director of the White House Office
of Public Liaison, and worked as a staffer many decades ago in
the United States Senate.
I would point out for the record that regarding H.R. 5961,
we're very grateful to him for providing a template for this
legislation. He laid out a number of goals for ``what next? ''
And I just want to say how grateful the Commission and my staff
and I are for that insight, because it helped us put together
what I think is a path forward, which could be done
administratively if there's a will, or, if Congress passes it
and then hopefully it's faithfully implemented.
I'd like to now go to Mr. Engels for your testimony.
CHRIS ENGELS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR INVESTIGATIONS AND
OPERATIONS, THE COMMISSION FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
Mr. Engels. Please let me begin by thanking Chairman Smith,
Co-Chairman Wicker, and the distinguished commissioners of the
U.S. Helsinki Commission, for their steadfast support to the
establishment of the rule of law and to the promotion of human
rights, but more specifically for their continued engagement to
address the mass atrocities being committed as part of the
ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq. I'm honored by the
invitation to testify before this Commission on the efforts to
combat these mass atrocities through individual criminal
accountability.
This Commission is already familiar with the devastating
humanitarian situation in Syria and Iraq. Some members of the
Commission personally heard the testimony from an Assad regime
defector known as ``Caesar,'' who smuggled thousands of images
from Syria. These images reveal the Assad regime's systematic
torture and murder of its opponents in security centers
throughout Syria. Survivors of ISIL's horrible sexual
enslavement campaign have also testified before Congress.
In addressing the Commission today, my role is not to
further elaborate on these crimes, which are, unfortunately,
all too well known to us here. Instead, I'm here to speak about
establishing individual criminal accountability for the
perpetrators of these terrible crimes and the current as-yet-
untapped opportunities for the U.S. Government to support
organizations working to ensure those responsible are brought
to justice.
The Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act
of 2016, H.R. 5961, certainly recognizes the importance of
justice in both these contexts. Evoking the sentiments of the
Act, I will narrow my recommendations to four areas for
potential future U.S. engagement and support to victims of both
of these crises.
First, it is important to support atrocity accountability
efforts today, despite the present lack of international
criminal jurisdictions over Syria or Iraq. With intervention by
the International Criminal Court or by any other international
tribunal for Syria and ISIL atrocity crimes still unlikely,
many question the point of criminal accountability work today.
Yet for the past 25 years, numerous examples demonstrate
that even during conflicts where accountability is not
addressed in the course of the war, discussions inevitably turn
to justice once peace has been restored. It is without question
that a present focus on criminal accountability, amassing
evidence before it can be destroyed or otherwise made
unavailable, will only serve to strengthen future peace-
building efforts in these countries. Moreover, there is no need
to wait for an international court or a tribunal where criminal
accountability options may be played out in the future. There
are options available today.
At CIJA, for example, we receive a dozen requests for
assistance per month from war crimes, counterterrorism and
immigration authorities. While victims may wait for justice in
their homelands, efforts to gather and corroborate information
on perpetrators found in Europe and North America today are a
credible recourse to criminal accountability, demonstrating to
Syrians, Iraqis and the world that perpetrators will be
prosecuted for their crimes.
Second, international support should be directed towards
the creation of competent local courts to try atrocity crimes
based on
already-collected evidence. An even more immediate road to
justice in Iraq is in front of us. Specifically, a number of
ISIL officials can be put on trial in specially equipped courts
in Erbil, where an Iraqi chamber would hear complex cases
against ISIL members, applying Iraqi penal code.
With the assistance of international experts and
professionals, such a chamber would be mandated to hear those
cases in line with the highest international standards of fair
trials and due process. It is our experience on the ground,
interviewing a wide range of affected groups, that the majority
of these victims want criminal justice, true justice, whether
it is through international or domestic courts.
Third, promoting the local contribution to criminal
investigations through capacity building now will ultimately
ensure a place for the rule of law in Syria and Iraq over the
long term. Training and mentoring Syrian and Iraqi
investigators, lawyers and analysts to conduct atrocity crime
work will have a significant impact on the quality of justice
tomorrow. In other words, investigative capacity development is
critical not only to lay the foundations for a robust domestic
engagement and future domestic or international courts, but
also as an investment in the long-term enforcement of the rule
of law in Syria and Iraq.
And fourth, criminal accountability efforts should be
linked to counter violent extremist initiatives. Holding
militant extremists criminally responsible for atrocity crimes
is under-utilized as a countering violent extremism tool today.
Evidence attributing specific crimes to members of militant
groups such as ISIL can serve to weaken the group's recruitment
narrative, discrediting members not only for providing support
to a group, but also as the murderers, torturers, rapists,
slavers and war criminals that they are.
If the Attorney General's review of the existing statutes,
as called for in this legislation, results in the enhancements
of statutory provisions related to atrocity crimes, this will
strengthen the ability to engage in such prosecutions here at
home in the United States.
Let me conclude with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., inscribed in marble just down the road: ``True peace is
not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of
justice.'' This act embodies Dr. King's words and represents
some of the United States' highest values: adherence to the
rule of law, the protection of human rights, and the delivery
of humanitarian assistance to those much in need.
These values underpin a just and peaceful society and are
especially pertinent to those trying to transition out of the
throes of chaos and tragedy. It is for these reasons that CIJA
supports the prompt passage of this legislation.
Thank you very much, Commissioners, for your hard work.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Engels. And without
objection, your full statement, and that of all of our
witnesses, and anything you would like to add in addition to
that to the record, will be made a part of the record. Thank
you so much.
Ambassador Scheffer.
DAVID SCHEFFER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR WAR CRIMES
ISSUES
Amb. Scheffer. Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of
the Helsinki Commission, thank you for this opportunity to
appear before you today. I'll be speaking strictly in my
personal capacity.
This hearing is really about two unacceptable realities:
first, the massive refugee migration out of Iraq and Syria,
arising in the latter case from years of atrocity crimes
killing more than an estimated 400,000 Syrian citizens and
devastating the urban landscape of that country; and second,
the inadequacy of U.S. federal law to hold the perpetrators of
such atrocity crimes--namely genocide, crimes against humanity
and war crimes--accountable if they reach American territory.
My focus today is on the latter reality, for it is simply
implausible that the United States remains a safe haven for the
war criminals of the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts. Indeed, it is
unacceptable that perpetrators of crimes against humanity
committed anywhere in the world--such as massive murders,
extermination, enslavement, forcible transfers of populations,
torture, sexual violence, ethnic or religious cleansing and
forced disappearance of persons--that such war criminals could
find refuge in the United States because of the void that
exists in Title 18 of the U.S. Code.
Fortunately, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and
Accountability Act of 2016 would, if adopted, begin the process
of rectifying this deficiency in federal law. The Attorney
General, who for years was special counsel to the prosecutor of
the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where atrocity
crimes were prosecuted, would be directed to review existing
criminal statutes to determine the extent of federal
jurisdiction over war criminals and assess how the absence of
criminal statutes impede the prosecution of such atrocity
crimes.
She would confirm that there is a glaring void in Title 18
when it comes to crimes against humanity. In contrast, most of
our allies and many other governments, during the last 20
years, have incorporated crimes against humanity into their
national criminal codes. So we are lagging far behind.
Following the Attorney General's review, I would hope that
further legislation would fill the void.
It remains true that, under current law, foreign
perpetrators of crimes against humanity might be subject, at
most, to deportation for immigration fraud in the United
States. Even then, such deportations might not be to a foreign
court for purposes of prosecution, but rather to live, prosper
and pose a continuing risk elsewhere, and perhaps to the
national security of the United States and its interests
abroad.
I have attached to my written testimony lists of cases that
focus on immigration fraud, typically with the penalty of
deportation or denaturalization even though the immigrant is
suspected of atrocity crimes or other serious human rights
abuses.
While their total number is unknown, experience dictates
that there are individuals who committed atrocity crimes
overseas and have yet to be discovered currently residing in
the United States. However, the Human Rights Violations and War
Crimes Unit of ICE is currently pursuing 1,900 leads and
removal cases against suspected human rights violators,
including more than 125 active investigations.
One nongovernmental organization, the Center for Justice
and Accountability, tries to locate them, and sometimes does,
assisting the Justice Department and ICE to pursue these
individuals. If they are tracked down, the result should be
something more than the possibility of mere deportation. I
would argue that they pose a threat to our national security
and we should either extradite them to foreign courts that will
effectively prosecute them or do the job ourselves.
In any event, the United States should deter their arrival
on our shores with tough criminal penalties for those alien
perpetrators of crimes against humanity who plot to enter this
country in order to reside or otherwise take advantage of
immigration privileges without fear of prosecution for their
egregious crimes. H.R. 5961 would demonstrate that the United
States stands with the victims and against the perpetrators of
crimes against humanity and other atrocity crimes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Ambassador, thank you so very much for your
testimony and, again, decades of leadership, and for the
insight you've provided to our Commission.
I'd like to now go to Mr. Rasche.
STEPHEN M. RASCHE, ESQ., LEGAL COUNSEL AND DIRECTOR OF IDP
RESETTLEMENT PROGRAMS, CHALDEAN CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF ERBIL,
KURDISTAN REGION, IRAQ
Mr. Rasche. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and distinguished
members of the Commission, for allowing me to speak to you
today on behalf of the persecuted Christians of Northern Iraq,
who as of today number barely 200,000, down from over 1.5
million just 13 years ago.
Again, my name is Stephen Rasche and I serve on the staff
of the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil in the Kurdistan
region of Northern Iraq. And my intention here this morning is
to give you a brief overview of the work we're doing and
address our future needs and concerns.
At present, we at the archdiocese are serving the various
needs of approximately 10,500 displaced families--IDPs in our
language. The majority of these were originally Christian
residents of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain. Within this overall
number, nearly 6,000 families are presently receiving housing
rental assistance at a total cost of approximately $650,000 per
month. Our food package program serves over 10,000 families at
a cost of approximately $720,000 per month, and our medical
clinics serve over 6,000 families per month, at a total cost of
about $80,000 per month, inclusive of all medicines.
While our responsibility at the archdiocese lies primarily
with service to the Christian IDPs, we have regularly extended
care to non-Christians as well. We do that as part of our
mission. Our schools and medical clinics serve the Yazidis and
Muslim IDPs, and our food and housing rental programs include
many Yazidi families.
All of this work has been done using, exclusively, private
aid, which today totals approximately $26 million since the
outset of the recent crisis beginning in August of 2014. Our
largest donors include the European-based Aid to the Church in
Need, the Knights of Columbus, the U.S.-based Nazarene Fund,
the Italian Episcopal Conference, the Chaldean Churches of the
USA and Caritas of Italy. There are many other private donors,
all of which are included in the detailed reports which we've
previously submitted to the office of the chairman.
Members of this Commission, it is no exaggeration to say
that without these private donors, the situation for Christians
in Northern Iraq would have already collapsed and the vast
majority of these families would, without question, have
already joined the refugee diaspora now destabilizing the
Middle East and Europe.
I say this because, throughout this entire period of
crisis, other than initial supplies of tents and tarps, the
Christian community in Iraq has received no funding from any
U.S. aid agencies or the U.N. The reason for this, we are told
repeatedly, lies in the Individual Needs Policy rigidly--in the
present case, we would argue, blindly--adhered to by the U.S.
Government and the U.N., as well as other U.S.-backed aid
agencies.
Specifically, when we've approached any of these agencies
regarding the provision of aid funding to the Christians, we've
been told that we've done too well in our private efforts, and
that the standards we've provided for our people exceed the
minimum Individual Needs standards currently within the
capabilities of those agencies. Counterarguments from us that
the needs of our perishing population require a different
standard of evaluation are met with vague sympathy but little
else.
With all this as background--and as the time of forced
displacement is now over two years--our private donors are
running out of the ability to sustain our current level of
care. And this brings us to two critical points to share with
this Commission this morning.
First, while the standard of care being received by
Christians may, in fact, marginally exceed that being provided
elsewhere by the U.N. and similar organizations, there are no
other groups in Iraq that are facing the existential threat now
being faced by the Christians. This enhanced level of care is
critical if we are to keep the Christian community viable in
Iraq.
Secondly, from a moral standpoint, the uniquely endangered
status of the Christian population, in our view, requires that
they be viewed not as individuals, using the standard
Individual Needs assessment, but rather as a group threatened
with extinction as a people, the victims of genocide and
historical violence which seeks to remove them permanently from
their ancestral homes.
Given this, as we near the beginning of the expected
liberation of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, we ask that you, in
your individual legislative capacities, consider supporting the
allocation of $9 million in direct aid, specifically designated
to support the existing humanitarian aid programs of the
remaining Christians of Northern Iraq. This amount would allow
for a continuation of the existing housing, medical and food
programs for an additional six months, by which time expected
events in the region would allow for informed reassessment.
While understanding the legal constraints governing the
issuing of U.S.-backed aid, we would request that the ultimate
use and implementation of any such aid be managed through our
existing system, which is already thoroughly integrated into
the Christian community. This could be readily done under
proper oversight from an approved distributor of U.S.-
government aid, and we stand by ready to work in good faith
with any such partner. Our existing aid donors regularly audit
our use of funds and we are thoroughly familiar and capable in
this regard.
Members of the Commission, thank you very much for your
time and the good work you do.
Mr. Smith. Oh, thank you for your great work, on the ground
especially.
I would like to now to turn to Bill Canny.
WILLIAM CANNY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MIGRATION AND REFUGEE
SERVICES, UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
Mr. Canny. Thank you, Chairman Smith and all the Commission
members. I'm grateful, on behalf of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops, to testify before this
Commission.
The bishops welcome the introduction of H.R. 5961, the
bipartisan Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability
Act, sponsored by Chairman Smith and now with 11 co-sponsors.
We appreciate this opportunity to share our thoughts and ideas
about the bill, as well as share other recommendations to
protect those fleeing atrocities in Syria and Iraq.
The work of the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Committee on
Migration is carried out by Migration Refugees Services, which
is in partnership with Catholic Charities across the country
and is the largest U.S. refugee resettlement agency, resettling
about a quarter of the refugees that arrive each year. We also
serve unaccompanied children, victims of human trafficking and
other at-risk migrants.
The U.S. Catholic Church relates closely with the Catholic
Church in countries around the world, where our worldwide
Catholic Communion serves the needs of the most marginalized,
regardless of nationality, ethnicity, race or religious
affiliation, as evidenced by Steve's testimony.
We share a deep concern for Syrian and Iraqi victims of
atrocities, outlined by Secretary Kerry. The USCCB's Committee
on Migration has made missions to the region and written two
Assessment and Solidarity reports concerning the plight of
refugees in the region.
In a recent trip to the region, a delegation described
arriving in Southern Turkey as some 130,000 Kurds, an ethnic
minority in Syria, were forced over the course of a weekend, to
seek refuge in Turkey as ISIS devastated their city of Kobani.
As the trip continued, the delegation met a growing number
of religious minorities, including Christians. The delegation
met a Syrian Christian in his twenties who boldly shared his
faith with the arriving ISIS fighters to his village. Surprised
that they let him go, he went to the family home several hours
later to find his parents and siblings slaughtered by ISIS. At
Sunday Mass in Istanbul, we met with a church full of Iraqi
Christian villagers who had fled from ISIS. They told us how
one of the village leaders had stood up to ISIS, and that the
next morning the villagers found the leader's severed head on
his doorstep.
Based on what we continue to see and hear from the region,
we are urging the U.S. Government and the international
community to take a comprehensive approach, including robust
aid to private organizations and host governments to this
crisis, hoping that it will be possible for a safe, humane,
voluntary return for all, including Christians, at the end of
the conflict. Meanwhile, for some refugees, because of their
vulnerability, waiting for return is not viable. One of the
options for these most vulnerable is to offer a U.S.
resettlement, albeit to a relatively small number of them.
We are pleased that the United States has resettled more
than 10,000 Syrian refugees in the current fiscal year.
However, we are gravely concerned by the small number of
religious minorities who have been resettled in the United
States during this period. For example, only .53 percent of
Syrians resettled this year in the United States have been
Christians, down from 1.7 percent last year.
Last year's number was close to being in line with the
percentage of Christians among all the Syrians registered as
refugees, which was around 2 percent. However, it is unclear at
the time of this writing precisely why the percentage of Syrian
Christians who have been registered as refugees or resettled in
the United States as refugees is so low. More needs to be done
to assess why this is so and then to address it.
We commend H.R. 5961 for recognizing the plight of
Christians and other religious minorities and for taking steps
to improve their access to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
We have some questions about whether the bill's provision
amending Section 599D of the Foreign Operations Export
Financing and Related Appropriations Act 1990 is the right
approach.
We respectfully suggest that creating a new P-2
classification in the U.S. Refugee Admissions priority system
for religious and ethnic minorities and victims of genocide
could more effectively achieve the laudable goals of this
legislation. We believe that a P-2 designation would increase
the access that Christians and other religious minorities have
to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, and we support the
inclusion of this provision in H.R. 5961.
While supporting this effort to increase access for
religious and ethnic minorities to resettlement, we also
encourage that all the most vulnerable refugees in Syria and
Iraq continue to have access to resettlement as well. The U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops joins Pope Francis in condemning
the actions of those who would persecute others solely for
reasons of their faith and ethnicity, and we stand ready to
help resettle Christians and all those most in need of this
solution.
Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Canny, and thank you
for that very constructive recommendation on how we can make
this better.
And I want all of you to know, any thoughts you have on
improvements or anything that's in the bill that needs to be
rectified, please come forward because we need it.
I'd like to now yield to Mr. Anderson.
CARL A. ANDERSON, SUPREME KNIGHT, KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
Mr. Anderson. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and
Commissioners, for this opportunity to testify. Congress and
the Administration have our great appreciation for their
declarations of genocide on behalf of victims who often feel
that the world has forgotten them.
Mr. Chairman, we commend you and your colleagues for your
leadership in introducing H.R. 5961, the Iraq and Syria
Genocide Relief and Accountability Act. Please be assured of
the full support of the Knights of Columbus in your work to
bring it to the president's desk. I would like to speak to you
today about three matters.
First, our government's humanitarian aid bureaucracy is
often not making aid available to communities that need it
most. Section 5 of the bill directs administration officials to
prioritize those targeted for genocide for relief. It seems
that it is more of a mindset than anything else and has
resulted in the need for this section.
We know that many Christian and Yazidi victims of genocide
do not receive public aid. U.S. and U.N. officials have told us
that the current policy prioritizes individual needs but does
not consider the needs of vulnerable communities. Such a policy
increases the likelihood that genocide will succeed.
And here we have a fundamental inconsistency in the U.S.
stance toward genocide. On the one hand, we have the unanimous
policy of the elective branches of the United States Government
stating that a genocide is occurring. On the other hand, we
have an aid bureaucracy that is allowing the intended
consequence of the genocide to continue, even though we can
stop it.
We need a different approach. The bureaucracy needs an
immediate change of mindset. Legislation may be helpful in
hastening this, but it does not have to be this way.
As this bill proceeds to a vote, our legislative and
executive representatives need to deliver to our diplomatic and
aid entities a simple message: In the midst of this genocide,
saving Christian and other communities that face extinction in
Iraq and Syria is part of your mission. There is nothing
unconstitutional, illegal, unethical or unprofessional about
prioritizing their need to survival as communities. They are
innocent victims of a genocide. If these victimized communities
are not receiving aid, you are not fulfilling your mission.
And such action is consistent with the best of American and
U.S. State Department tradition. In fact, during and after
World War I the United States Government assisted Christians in
the region with direct aid as they suffered from what Pope
Francis has called the first genocide of the 20th century.
Chartered by Congress and recipient of more than $25
million in government aid, the Near East Relief Organization
constituted a collaboration of the State Department and
American individuals and religious entities in the Middle East.
It is widely credited with having been key in saving religious
pluralism in the region during and following World War I. And I
am proud to say that the Knights of Columbus was among the
groups that supported this effort.
There is no reason that such a prioritization assisted by
direct government funding could not exist today. To be clear,
we've had the assistance of many people who are working within
this system to help and to change the status quo, but they are
often limited by a bureaucracy that resists change. And we call
upon the Secretary of State not to wait for Congress to pass
H.R. 5961, but to take this action administratively today.
What is lacking may be legislation, but it is also
leadership. With this bill, Congress is providing leadership.
And it is time for the aid community to respond. If they do
not, the officials from the State Department, USAID, and their
private partners need to continue to hear directly from our
elected representatives that public aid needs to flow to these
communities now.
Second, on the subject of aid, I would like to reiterate
that in addition to the funds provided in this bill, Congress
should explore a standalone emergency appropriations bill to
respond to this genocide, and the communities affected by it,
more comprehensively. It seems that few situations could be as
worthy of such a measure as an ongoing genocide.
My third point is that the aid we provide must be an
investment in a more peaceful future in the region. This cannot
happen unless the religious apartheid there ends. Christians
and other religious minorities are entitled to equal rights and
to equal protection of the law as enumerated in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Our tax dollars to governments in the Middle East must
not--must not--be used to rebuild a system that imposes second-
class citizenship upon religious minorities. U.S. aid should be
contingent on the application of full and equal rights of
citizenship to every citizen of Iraq and other countries in the
region.
This agenda demands from us a new approach to our human
rights advocacy. When we speak of human rights, we are
referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. When
governments in the region speak of human rights, they may be
thinking of those rights as defined, or as confined by Sharia.
We must not mislead ourselves or allow others to mislead us in
this regard.
Our own laws, including the International Religious Freedom
Act of 1998, recognized these realities and require our
government to act. Christians and others in the region have a
natural and universal right to practice their faith freely and
openly, and they must receive protection from civil authorities
when they do so. If civil authorities in the region cannot
supply this protection, in our opinion they are not suitable
partners for our aid. Only with such policies will we be able
to break the cycle of persecution and genocide which has
afflicted these communities for far too long and which
threatens international peace and security.
Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for your leadership and
that of the members of the Commission. I would just say in
closing, on September 16th, the human rights advocate Amal
Clooney spoke at an event at the United Nations concerning
Middle East genocide of religious minorities, and she said
this: ``I wish I could say I'm proud to be here, but I am not.
I am ashamed, as a supporter of the United Nations, that states
are failing to prevent or even punish genocide because they
find that their own interests get in the way. I am ashamed as a
lawyer that there is no justice being done and barely a
complaint is being made about it.''
Mr. Chairman, please, let us not find that in the coming
months we will be in the position that distinguished human
rights advocates may say the same about the United States. We
urge Congress to pass H.R. 5961. Thank you very much.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Anderson, thank you again for your
leadership. As I said before, your testimony became the
template for our bill.
And I want to note for the record and be very clear about
this: I want to thank Nathaniel Hurd, our lead staffer, who has
done absolute yeoman's work on this. Thank you, Nathaniel, and
Mark Milosch, our chief of staff for the Helsinki Commission,
who has also been right there all the way, and other members of
the staff. But, Nathaniel, thank you for your work in reaching
out to so many very informed people who have helped us cobble
together what I think is a transformation bill, if it's
enacted. Although, as you have said, so much of this could be
done, if not all of it, administratively if there was a
political will to do so.
Let me ask a few questions, and then I'll yield to my good
friend and colleague Commissioner Joe Pitts. How much--and
perhaps Mr. Rasche, you might want to speak to this--how much
is needed? You did give a number. If that money is not provided
to the Christians who are suffering, what will happen in the
next week, months?
We had asked Anne Richard and we had asked the
administration if they could provide us with a witness to be
here. They are very active at the U.N. today, so I certainly
understand that. But we are willing to meet any time, next
week, week after week after week after, right up--maybe not
Election Day, but every other day before and after to hear from
them, because we want to know what they're willing to do, what
they're planning on doing on each of these categories.
When it comes to the food side of it and medicines and the
like, could you just again highlight the sense of urgency,
which I think is missing? I said in my opening how disappointed
I was when I watched the President's speech at the United
Nations, and I kept waiting for at least a paragraph, at least
a sentence, at least a word about the genocide. And when it was
over, I threw my hands up and said, ``Not a word!'' It was--it
was disappointing in the extreme, and I'm sure it disappointed
many others, particularly those who are waiting with bated
breath to have the President all in.
But this humanitarian need, I can tell you beyond any
reasonable doubt that I know our leadership, Speaker Paul Ryan
is a great humanitarian and cares deeply. We need to move this
bill quickly. I was hoping to do a markup today in my
subcommittee. Unfortunately, that got delayed--not by me. We
need to move quickly, because time is of the utmost. And we've
spent months putting this together to try to leave no stone
unturned. We're always open--and Mr. Canny, you recommended
some changes. But this urgent need, if you could speak to that,
and perhaps, Mr. Anderson, you could.
And Mr. Canny, if you could speak to the issue of the
abysmally low number of Christians who are getting referrals,
as is pointed out in Mr. Rasche's testimony. We've heard this
many times, but you put it very clearly. Even U.S.
representatives privately admit that Christians would be under
real threat of additional violence and persecution within the
Muslim majority camps. But the reactive reflex answer they get
from so many is: Just go to the camps. If they go to the camps,
they're in peril. That's why this P-2 status and this idea of
getting that interview are so extremely important.
We had asked last October at one of my seven hearings on
this, Assistant Secretary Richard said, ``On the P-2, the
advantage of a P-2 category is that it helps UNHCR--it helps us
get referrals. It facilitates that. Since we have 22,000
referrals right now, it's not a problem for us. So it's not
something that would benefit us right at the moment. We can
always take a fresh look at that.''
That was a year ago, almost exactly. It's time for that
fresh look, because, again, large swaths of people, Christians,
Yazidis are being bypassed, and I think that's unconscionable.
So if you could speak to that, and any of you who would like to
touch on that.
Mr. Rasche. Yes, Mr. Chairman. As I said in my written
testimony, the needs that we are meeting are fundamental daily
needs: shelter, food, medicine. They're not the type of needs
that allow for us to tell people, ``Hold on, it's coming in 6
months or 8 months or 12 months.'' They're at our door every
morning, and our situation is one where we like to say, ``We
wake up every morning and we rob 6 Peters to pay 12 Pauls.'' We
do that every day and we've been doing it every day for two
years.
We are responsible for these people, and in the absence of
government aid, we won't stop taking care of them. We will do
what we need to do to find that aid wherever we need to find
it. And if that means prioritizing our relationship with other
governments, per se, who are more willing to step into the
void, then at a certain point we have to do that.
The people, especially the Christians of the Kurdistan
region in northern Iraq, view the Americans at present as their
natural partners, and in all frankness, believe that the U.S.
has a special moral role to play in this rebuilding. But that
being said, the needs are existential needs. They exist every
day. So our present need is as I've outlined. $9 million, we
believe, gets us through these next six months with these bare
needs. But it is a real issue for us in that our donors are
experiencing donor fatigue on their end. There's only so long
that you can be asking private aid dollars to take care of
these situations.
As far as how quickly removal of this aid would result in
trouble for us, I fully expect that we would see riots in 30 to
60 days if this private funding that we're now relying upon was
pulled. There are indications that the people are close to that
point. The people know that they are not receiving any aid from
the U.S. Government. The people in the camps, the Christians in
the camps, they know that they're not receiving any aid from
the United States, and they question why is that. And these are
difficult questions for us to answer. Again, we're not
sheltered from these. People come directly to our faces every
day and ask us about that. So the need for us, it's acute.
I'll stop there and let you----
Mr. Smith. Before we go, in followup----
Mr. Rasche. Sure.
Mr. Smith. ----with the winter approaching, I remember when
George Bush, the first George Bush made the statements about
the Kurds. We had their backs. Massive numbers fled. Saddam
Hussein was in hot pursuit. They got to the border in Turkey.
And we had a program called Operation Provide Comfort that sent
in Special Forces because people were dying from exposure. I
went with a delegation. We saw people who were on the brink,
babies who were dying, little children who were dying. And
everywhere you went you saw Kurdish men and women with our
camouflage jackets just to stay warm because exposure was
killing so many.
With winter approaching, how much of an additional threat
does that pose to--because I've never seen so many people at
risk. And if it wasn't for the Special Forces--you know, the
NGOs came in a month a later, did a wonderful job, but they
were able to put a tourniquet on what would have been a massive
loss of life.
Mr. Rasche. It's a good point, Mr. Chairman. You know, I
think the--as Americans and the general population as a whole,
there's a mistaken belief that it doesn't get cold in Iraq. It
snows in Erbil in the winter time. And as we come upon this
period of time, it's important to remember, even the people
that we've put in shelters and whatnot, it gets incredibly cold
for them at night, and so that you have these additional costs
for heating oil, for blankets, for these sorts of things.
Absolutely that is a concern for us. Our costs will go up.
Mr. Smith. And the number of people we're talking about,
just to be as exact as we can? Just a general----
Mr. Rasche. The number of people that we're talking about
in the Erbil region for IDPs is for Christian IDPs--I'm not
speaking to the Muslim population--about 70,000 people.
Mr. Smith. And you also, as you said in your testimony,
take care of the Yazidis?
Mr. Rasche. That's right.
Mr. Smith. Of that 70,000.
Mr. Rasche. We don't take care of all of them. But in many
of our camps, there are Yazidis who are fully integrated into
the camps. It's a situation where, when they fled from Mosul
and Nineveh, the Yazidis and Christians fled together. And when
they resettled, they resettled together, and they consider
themselves in their resettlement situations as being a village.
To the extent when we talk to them about resettling perhaps
as one group, when we go to the Christians and say, ``We think
we have a better place for you to go; are you interested in
going?'' And their response is, ``Only if the Yazidis come with
us.'' And we go and speak to the Yazidis and say, ``We think
we've found a better place for you to go. Will you go?'' And
they say, ``Only if the Christians come with us.''
Mr. Smith. Thank you.
Mr. Anderson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Let me just reinforce what Steve has said here about what
is occurring in Erbil. I would say, having just met with
religious leaders from Aleppo several weeks ago, the situation
is as bad there--perhaps worse, than where it is in Iraq.
But let me just address what Senator Cardin said at the
beginning with his opening statement, and that is the question
of corruption. I would say that the delivery systems of this
neighbor-to-neighbor type of aid through religious communities,
religious entities and churches is not only a very effective
delivery system--because people know each other, and people are
living together with each other, and people who are doing that
are the mediators for the aid--it is an effective way. It's an
efficient way. And it is a very low threat of corruption in the
delivery of this aid.
And so I would encourage Congress very strongly to think
about finding ways in which these religious communities can be
the delivery system for this emergency aid, because absolutely
it is needed.
Mr. Smith. You know, is 9 million [dollars] the short-term
number, or is it higher? This seems a low number for so many
people.
Mr. Anderson. Yes, it's obviously a low number, but it's
higher than zero. So from that standpoint, it's good. But it's
for six months. So if one were looking at an annual
appropriation, maybe, Steve, of 20 [million] to 25 million
[dollars], and then the NGO assistance could be on top of that,
building educational systems, housing and putting it in a more
permanent basis.
But maybe you have a comment on that.
Mr. Rasche. I think that's right, Carl. Again, the numbers
that we're proposing right now, understanding the realities of
where the session is, and the other constraints that we have,
this is for those specific critical needs. But the overall
situation in terms of rebuilding and rehabilitation--I think
Carl's number is right.
Mr. Canny. Thank you. The Catholic bishops have been very
concerned about what has been raised here. That's keeping
Christians in the Middle East and not continuing to deplete
their presence. Muslim leaders in the Middle East consider the
Christian presence critical, both historically and today.
However, for those who are forced to leave and get out,
we've found, again, statistically that they're not registering
in the United Nations system for the registration as refugees.
We think there are a number of reasons. As indicated in the
Knights of Columbus report, the camps they don't feel are safe
places. However, 85 percent of refugees are outside the camps.
So how do we get them registered in the system? UNHCR has
put up some mobile capacity to go out and register. It has
clearly not been successful. Therefore, I think that a P-2
designation is warranted, which, as you said, Chairman, allows
them to get into the system quickly and more regularly, and
more efforts to get out and reach those Christians and other
minorities that are outside of the countries in which they
exist originally is critical.
Mr. Smith. You know, just on that point, the President, I
thought, used very poorly chosen words, at least, and if this
sentiment really is behind it, it is despicable, when he said
he didn't want a religious test. I was shocked at it, frankly.
My first trip to the Soviet Union in 1982 was on behalf of
the Soviet Jewish Refuseniks who had P-2 category because they
were being put into psychiatric prisons, Perm Camp 35--I
actually went there in the mid-1980s--and Christians were also
included in that P-2 designation, Ukrainian Catholic and
evangelicals. I met the Siberian Seven, who had gotten into our
embassy. This is all in 1982.
This is not a religious test, and having the genocide
designation says this administration acknowledges the
existential threat they face. So you have to provide additional
remedies.
So I do hope that he'll step back from that statement, so
that whether he supports this bill or not--again, he can even
do it administratively, if he so chose.
Just a couple questions. Then I'll go to my friend Joe
Pitts.
Mr. Engels, you talked about the linkage evidence. I
thought that was a really strong point. We do have study after
study saying how bad it is, showing the linkage to personal
responsibility. And I thought, Ambassador Scheffer, your points
and your case studies about the infirmity of our U.S. law to
prosecute people who have committed heinous crimes, crimes
against humanity, war crimes--and you went through several--is
just absolutely compelling.
And you know, this Commission contemporaneously with the
Srebrenica massacre--I've been there, I've been there for
reinternments--as you pointed out, one of those who committed
those horrible crimes--8,000 dead Muslim men, in Srebrenica, a
U.N. safe haven--and yet he lived in the United States, in
Massachusetts, and was only charged with visa fraud. I mean,
that's outrageous.
And you went through a whole group of people--Guatemala, El
Salvador--Mederos in the Cuban regime, Armando Valladares
talked about the very thing he did, urine and excrement, as
well as electroshock treatment, and here he is living here and
you know, he wasn't prosecuted either. The killer of
archbishop--the assassin of Archbishop Romero, now a saint in
the Catholic Church, another one.
Then you even talked about George Boley, who committed
horrible crimes in Liberia, and he's now a destabilizing
factor, apparently, in Liberia again. And we could have
prosecuted him. You know, they were able to get Charles Taylor
50 years, but this man was here in the United States and is now
back destabilizing Liberia, which is not out of the woods yet.
So thank you for that. My hope is that, again, the
administration, either this Attorney General or the next, even
without the law--I will push on this till it's law, I can tell
you that--every bill I have ever introduced, I don't stop
until, God willing, we get it.
And you know, Ben Cardin mentioned the trafficking work. I
wrote the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Took three years
to get that passed, had one roadblock after another. Finally,
in 2000 it became law. We will push on this until it's law.
But time is of the urgency. You know, there are bad people
walking our streets that need to be prosecuted.
So I want to thank you for just highlighting so strongly
and, given your credentials, why this needs to be done. So if
you want to elaborate on that and, again, on this idea of the
linkage, so that we can start prosecuting.
Amb. Scheffer. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, for those
kind words. I would simply make a couple of comments.
There is no contradiction between this massive requirement
to deal with the victims and also the massive requirement for
accountability. The victims are victims because of those who
need to be brought to justice. We should be able to walk and
chew gum at the same time in our own government and be able to
deal with the victims, provide them with assistance, recognize
that that they are victims. You know, a large number of Syrians
are Syrian Muslims who are victims, and we need to recognize
that.
In terms of accountability, the work that Chris's
organization is doing--and I know of it quite well--is
absolutely invaluable. We know, in the work of the war crimes
tribunals that I've focused on for 25 years, that the
investigation of these crimes is an incredibly difficult
challenge because when you look at atrocity crimes, the number
of crime sites, and being able to reach that chain of
responsibility up to a leadership level is a very, very
difficult evidential challenge. It's not like investigating a
single murder. It's investigating 20,000 murders. And courts
will demand that a certain amount of evidence be demonstrated
in order to bring a leader to justice. And they will have the
very best defense counsel you can imagine.
So these are two very complementary aims, and I just think
that our government should be able to accept these challenges
with coherence and with a sense of mission for the fate of our
brothers and sisters overseas.
I just want to make one final comment. You know, when I was
Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes in the late 1990s, I also
had the responsibility of literally going to atrocity scenes as
quickly as possible. I sometimes would show up within hours of
the massacres, and I would see the victims and all of the
carnage.
I want to pay a compliment to my colleagues in the Catholic
community. So often when I showed up at a scene in Africa or in
the Balkans, the first relief that came on the scene--this
would be within hours if not a day or so of the atrocity--was
Catholic Relief Services. Then the U.N. would get there within
a number of hours later, but it was the Catholic Relief Service
vehicles that I saw pulling up and immediately dealing with the
most urgent concerns that no one else was dealing with yet.
So I think we need to be listening to our colleagues in the
Catholic community. They know what they're doing, and they
provide that assistance with such critical urgency when it
occurs.
Mr. Engels. Thank you again for the comments. Just to
elaborate a bit on the points that you made related to
perpetrators and linkage evidence, it is my experience, our
experience, that in the past a large amount of the hard work on
the ground has taken place only after there was political
consensus on what form of tribunal would be established,
whether it be an ad hoc, a local court with international
support, a hybrid court.
The problem with that model is that, as we know, it takes
time to build consensus on whatever that tribunal might look
like. If we wait until then to begin investigations, then we've
lost a great deal of time, and indeed much evidence can be
lost, never to be retrieved again.
But that's only part of the work that we try to do now. The
other element to that is in the great hope that whatever the
justice mechanism is, it will also include Syrians and Iraqis.
What we've also seen in the past is that no work is done to
build the capacity of local lawyers, investigators, judges,
again, until there is some final decision on what form a court
will take. And that then means again we're behind.
So at one instant, a court is established, and then the
victims, the people who experienced the crime, want justice at
that point. They see momentum. But indeed that's only a
beginning if nothing's done in preparation, because you still
have to train the individuals that will be there, because of
course even if you're an excellent judge or prosecutor, you
haven't worked in war crimes before. So it's new subject
matter. And indeed without the evidence being collected, it
means that justice will again be delayed.
So our work is really focused on trying to do what we
didn't do before and do it better, and that is prepare for the
hopeful one-day international or hybrid mechanism that can
prosecute these crimes while at the same time we take advantage
of the jurisdictions that are available today.
With the large refugee flows going into Europe, we know
that perpetrators are in those flows. And that's why, as I
mentioned earlier, we work directly with war crimes prosecutors
in Europe and in North America to identify and provide our
evidence to those individuals today--evidence that couldn't be
attained otherwise, because the conflict is ongoing--to ensure
at least we can demonstrate to the Syrians and to the Iraqis
who are in those refugee flows, that when individuals do come
within a jurisdiction which does have the rule of law and has
the ability to prosecute them, the evidence will be there and
will be ready and waiting for them.
Amb. Scheffer. Just 10 seconds--I just thought I would add
that I do not think it's mission impossible to actually create
a tribunal that deals with the Syrian and Iraqi atrocity
crimes. The Russian veto has blocked us in the Security Council
in terms of referring the situation to the International
Criminal Court. But I wrote a couple of years ago an article
that perhaps I could submit to the record, if you would permit
me to, from The Los Angeles Times, in which I proposed a
tribunal that would be constituted through a treaty between the
U.N. General Assembly and certain key governments in the region
who are clearly impacted and thus can claim extraterritorial
jurisdictional bases for holding individuals accountable for
crimes that are having such an enormous impact on their own
territory.
That would require leadership, though, a tremendous amount
of political will. But frankly, if you work it through the
General Assembly, you can avoid the Russian veto.
Mr. Smith. I'd like to yield to Commissioner Pitts.
Mr. Pitts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
hearing. Thank you, all of you, for your efforts, for your
testimony. I'll just go down the line.
Mr. Engels, what's your understanding of what the U.S.
Government is doing to support criminal investigations of
atrocity crimes committed in Iraq or Syria, and to support the
apprehension of the perpetrators?
Mr. Engels. I think that the focus thus far has been on
another key element of transitional justice, and that is on
documentation--supporting NGOs and other groups that are
documenting crimes, the crimes that are being committed, and
supporting advocacy NGOs that are making sure that the public
is aware of the atrocities that are being committed today and
have been being committed for years. And that is a great and
very important focus.
It is of course my position, because of the work that I do
and my narrow focus in the bigger picture of transitional
justice, that it would be of great help and assistance if--not
only financially but also giving the backing of the U.S.
Government, if more work was done to support NGOs who are also
working on the criminal justice side to ensure that these
individuals do come to justice one day.
Mr. Pitts. Thank you.
Ambassador Scheffer, you said in your written testimony
that ``while their number is unknown, there probably are
individuals who committed atrocity crimes overseas and have yet
to be discovered currently residing in the United States.'' In
fact, you mentioned the word ``safe haven.'' How many such
perpetrators might be in the U.S. now, and what are the most
egregious examples of the perpetrators currently living in the
U.S. without being prosecuted?
Amb. Scheffer. Congressman, I'm always careful not to throw
numbers out that I can't substantiate, obviously, but we do
know from our end--that's why I added to my oral testimony that
the Human Rights Violations and War Crimes Unit of ICE in the
Department of Justice actually does have numbers of
individuals--1,900 leads on investigations right now for
individuals in the United States, and 125 active
investigations. Since 2004, 780 individuals have been removed
through this process. We don't know if that's the tip of the
iceberg or whether that's the iceberg. But I think when you're
talking about many hundreds of individuals who range in
character from those who perpetrate massive crimes against
humanity to even single human rights violations or single
instances of tortures of various victims, it's still a matter
of considerable concern.
So we continue to search and we continue to find that even
as Chairman Smith mentioned earlier, suddenly we discover that
there are individuals from the Bosnian conflict, from the
Somalian conflict, from conflicts of 20, 30 years ago who are
discovered here, just as we continue to find rather elderly
individuals from Nazi Germany who suddenly pop up on our
screens in this country. And of course the Justice Department
has a lot of those who committed immigration fraud to secure
their presence in the United States 40, 50 years ago.
You had a second question for me, Congressman, beyond that.
Mr. Pitts. Just some of the more egregious examples----
Amb. Scheffer. Oh. Well, could I point you to the
attachments that I have to my written testimony, which truly do
I think offer you a number of examples. They are compiled by
the Center for Justice and Accountability, and also at my law
school, and I think we've mentioned some of those. I can go
into more detail if you wish, but there are attachments to my
written testimony.
Mr. Pitts. All right. Thank you.
Mr. Rasche, if Christian IDP families leave Iraq, how
likely are they ever to return?
Mr. Rasche. Highly unlikely. It's important to understand
that the people that are there now, the families that are still
in Iraq--they're the last survivors. And if they're forced to
take this next step, which would be to flee into the emigrant
diaspora in Europe and other places, that's a one-way door for
them. They will not come back. And I can say this from personal
experience because we've lost families and people that we
invested time in that we had hoped would stay, and when we
speak to them about their views on things, they've just made it
clear that once they go, they're on their way.
Mr. Pitts. Thank you.
Mr. Canny, you mentioned the small number of Christians
among the refugees resettling in the U.S. Why is the number so
small? Would you elaborate?
Mr. Canny. Well, one of the reasons is it's hard to put
together the full picture because they're on the move, of
course, they're in many different areas, they often aren't
coming out due to their own fears. But they're not in camps
where traditionally we find people to resettle, so they're in
urban areas. Therefore special measures have to be made to go
out and find them and get them to register by the United
Nations. They're not as adept at doing that as perhaps we would
want them to be. You have to be encouraging them to do that.
Other reasons include--many of them we think are in
Lebanon. We've been slow to register people in Lebanon,
particularly the U.S. Government, due to security reasons for
our own personnel. So we have a unit there now, the government
does, but it's registering people slowly related to personal
security.
Those are a couple of the reasons for this. Those who have
left we don't think will go back, as Steve mentioned, and so we
need to provide them an easier access to being resettled.
Mr. Pitts. Mr. Anderson, when you have asked U.S. or U.N.
officials the question you shared in your written testimony--
why aren't the communities that are victims of this genocide
receiving public aid?--and I think you said no U.S. aid as
well--have they ever shown openness to reevaluating how they
deliver aid so that it reaches genocide survivors?
Mr. Anderson. No.
Mr. Pitts. Why?
Mr. Anderson. I think the point Steve made gave us some
insight on that in the sense that they are looking at
individuals and many of the non-Christians individually are
worse off because they have not been taken in by their
neighbors in the same way that the Christian communities have
reached out to their neighbors in need and brought them in. So
it's possible to look at the individual level, and there are
many Muslim IDPs who are in worse shape than the Christian
IDPs. But that doesn't account for, as I said, the
survivability of these individuals as a community, which is the
long-term test of their survivability.
Mr. Pitts. But, you said no U.S. aid has gotten to these
communities. Is that correct?
Mr. Rasche. That's correct.
Mr. Pitts. Go ahead.
Mr. Rasche. That's correct. Just to reiterate what Carl has
said, it's not that the people we have spoken to within the
established aid community don't understand the argument that
we're making. They understand it. Their response is, we have an
Individual Needs Policy which doesn't allow for us to deviate
and address your particular situation, and that's the way it
is. And we've found this time after time after time.
One other thing I'd like to briefly clarify regarding the
potential return of Christians to Iraq--I don't mean to
preclude that there is no situation in some future stable
regime that they would not consider returning. What I'm
speaking to is within the foreseeable future with the issues
that they're all facing. Once they enter that exit stream,
they'll continue going until they reach some other destination.
Mr. Pitts. So, would this P-2 classification that Mr. Canny
mentioned overcome this?
Mr. Rasche. Well, you know, the P-2 classification I think
would provide for great help to the people that have already
made that step to enter into the emigration stream at great
personal risk to themselves. I've spoken this morning about the
Christians in and around Erbil. But many of their family
members are now in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Jordan and in other
places, and in really dire and hopeless situations, and this P-
2 designation would certainly assist them and assist them
greatly.
Mr. Pitts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much.
Just a couple of final questions. One of the lessons
learned from Bosnia was that so many of those who were
encouraged to return--one, they weren't returning to all that
much, whether in the Republika Srpska or Bosnia. But when they
did return, their next-door neighbor or someone on the street
was someone who committed atrocities and there was never any
kind of accountability. So prosecution and convictions--making
facilitation of return more probable, if you might want to
speak to that, because I think that is a huge issue. At the
right moment they can flare up and do it again. Plus, you're
buying a loaf of bread--the guy right next to you just killed
five people in your family.
Secondly, if I could ask Mr. Engels--you have 40 people in
Syria, 20 in Iraq, 130 that work in your organization. I was
just in South Sudan and was struck by how many humanitarian aid
workers and human rights monitors had been targeted by both
sides, by Salva Kiir's government as well as by the newer vice
president who is now out of the picture, because they see them
as spies. They were blaming the United States, humanitarian aid
workers, and it was Salva Kiir's people. There's an
investigation in there. But how many--have there been any
fatalities, casualties among your 40 in Syria or 20 in Iraq?
That is very, very difficult.
And while you're answering, I noticed you attached in your
testimony where you get your money from--the U.K., European
Union, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Iraq and Switzerland--
but I don't see the United States. Have they turned you down or
they just are not interested? It seems to me this is an
endeavor that we ought to be backing.
Mr. Engels. First, on the question of the risk to our
people working in that area, I think it's an incredibly
important question and it's something that we of course take
very seriously. Because of the work that we do, we have very
serious security protocols and we don't take risks lightly.
Given the work that's going on and the individuals that we
have in the field, I think there are two levels of risk that
need to be addressed. One is the general risk to anyone who
chooses to stay and work in Syria and Iraq, rather than leave.
That risk is there no matter if you wear a white helmet running
into a building that's just been attacked, trying to save
civilian lives, or you're working in a hospital trying to do
the best you can to mend the damage that's been done by those
who are attacking civilian objects, or if you're a journalist,
or if you're an investigator. So that level of risk is there
for anyone who chooses to stay and operate in what is indeed a
serious conflict.
The individuals that we have working for us have chosen to
take that risk. They mostly come from legal backgrounds and
they see that this is the thing that they can do for a future
and peaceful Syria and Iraq. And indeed it is that belief that
you just mentioned, that justice and accountability will be key
for them to later on having a sustainable peace. And that's the
reason that they stay.
The second tier I think of risk is that which might be
specific to the job that they do, and that is of course
something we focus on every day. We make sure that our people
aren't in harm's way. If there's the possibility that moving
documents across lines would incur additional risk, then we ask
them not to do it. We ask them to put the documents somewhere
else and wait for another day, because we know that while
justice is important, there is a balance, and today we don't
want our people being injured or hurt in the furtherance of
what we hope to be successful prosecutions later down the road.
And to the second part, on U.S. funding, no, we haven't. We
have asked. We haven't found the right pot of money or the
right avenue to pursue. We've done a lot of asking and
attempted to figure out where we fit, and I think that that is
something that hopefully this type of legislation will improve
for not only us but other organizations doing this work,
because we are doing something that's not in a traditional
funding stream, which makes it potentially more difficult. So
indeed, no, we have not found that stream yet.
Mr. Smith. And, Ambassador Scheffer, while you're answering
that, you point out that H.R. 5961 requires answers at the
current state of our federal law. Could you tell us, do other
countries have a law like we would like to ultimately have, and
do they prosecute people who commit war crimes who are then
residing within their boundaries? Do you have any idea which
countries those might be?
Amb. Scheffer. On your first question, yes, there are many
other countries. There are 72 countries that have crimes
against humanity laws on the books. What I do not have for you
is empirically how often are those laws actually activated to
prosecute individuals. What they do--and would love to see
that--I would love to see that data created someday by
researchers that I could gather for that.
But the reality is that those countries that have the
crimes against humanity laws on the books--and they include all
of our major allies--they are able to demonstrate to the world
and of course to the International Criminal Court under
complementarity principles, that they're able to do this job
themselves. They don't have to rely on another jurisdiction or
the International Criminal Court to actually pursue these
prosecutions.
Also, it helps them tremendously in extradition treaties
because under the double criminality rule, if we have crimes
against humanity laws, someone else does, it's a much easier
extradition procedure to ensure prosecution in the appropriate
jurisdiction--perhaps where the crime scene is, et cetera. So
it just makes extradition practice much, much more fluid and
doable to be able to have similar criminal statutes in the two
jurisdictions.
But no, I just don't have the empirical data on how many
have actually been prosecuted, but it has occurred.
I was just going to further elaborate on something, Chris,
that you were saying, and I've lost my train of thought
answering the first question, so I apologize.
That's fine. I've finished.
Mr. Smith. Okay. Thank you.
Before we conclude, does anybody else have anything else
they would like to add?
Amb. Scheffer. Oh.
Mr. Smith. Yes?
Amb. Scheffer. It has occurred to me what I was going to
say about Chris's testimony.
You know, when we created the Office of War Crimes Issues
in the State Department in the late 1990s, we had no budget. I
had to scrape my budget together for my staff literally from
other parts of the department, from other agencies, through
secondments, et cetera. And I didn't have any funds to actually
launch initiatives like this whereby we would find an
investigative capacity elsewhere and we'd like to be able to
provide funding to it to assist our government, to supplement
our government's work, et cetera. And it seems--I may be
misinformed these days, but I have the impression that that
situation has persisted, that probably the Office of Global
Criminal Justice, which is the successor name in the State
Department, probably does not have any kind of significant
budget to actually administer for these purposes. That's why I
think Chris is saying where do we find this particular pot of
funding within the U.S. Government. It's a very difficult
exercise to try to find it.
Mr. Smith. Thank you all for your testimony, and we will
reconvene shortly when we hear from the administration. There's
a standing invitation there. I hope they come soon. I just
mentioned to my staff, any day but Election Day--[laughs]--but
we stand ready. And a trip to Erbil--we'll put together a CODEL
to again try to bring additional word back to our colleagues
about the urgency of the situation.
So, thank you so very, very much for your extraordinary
work. The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:52 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I C E S
=======================================================================
Prepared Statements
----------
Prepared Statement of Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman, Commission
on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Seven months ago, the Independent International Commission of
Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic reported that ``The [Syrian]
Government has committed the crimes against humanity of extermination,
murder, rape or other forms of sexual violence, torture, imprisonment,
enforced disappearance and other inhuman acts.'' More than half a year
ago, Secretary of State Kerry declared that ISIS ``is responsible for
genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yezidis,
Christians, and Shia Muslims.'' They were acknowledging the facts-on-
the-ground and affirming what I and many of you in this room had been
saying for years.
The atrocities in Iraq and Syria have been so horrible, for so
long, with so little action from the Administration, that it has been
difficult to hope. Nevertheless, when the Secretary declared genocide,
we dared to hope that finally the Administration would hear the voices
of the victims and act. Instead, the Administration has said the right
words and done the wrong things.
I have chaired seven hearings focusing on genocide and other
atrocities committed in Iraq and Syria. In March, the House passed
almost unanimously the resolution that I authored, H. Con. Res. 121,
advocating for the formation of an ad hoc tribunal for perpetrators in
the Syrian conflict. This has gone nowhere. The Administration has
seemed uninterested and has taken no action. This May, I chaired a
hearing after the genocide declaration, asking the question ``What
next?'' Half a year later we have the answer from the Administration:
Not much. When given the opportunity to speak about the genocide during
his recent address to the entire UN General Assembly, President Obama
said nothing. How could he be silent about a modern genocide that has
been happening on his watch?
Administration officials have stated that it is in the interests of
the United States to enable Christians, Yezidis, and other religious
and ethnic communities to remain in their ancient homelands of Iraq and
Syria. Yet, the Administration has so far refused to identify the
humanitarian needs of these communities and provide them with
assistance so that they are able to survive in their home country.
Displaced genocide survivors cannot pay for food, medicine, or shelter
with words from Washington. It is inexcusable that the Administration
is hiding behind misinterpretations of humanitarian principles to avoid
supporting entities that are serving these communities.
Shockingly, Steve Rasche, Legal Counsel and Director of IDP
Resettlement Programs for the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil in
Iraq, will testify that ``throughout this entire period of crisis,
since August 2014, other than initial supplies of tents and tarps, the
Christian community in Iraq has received nothing in aid from any US aid
agencies or the UN.''
Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, who
provided a template for our legislation, will also testify that ``We
know that many Christian and Yazidi victims of genocide do not receive
public aid.''
When he made his genocide declaration, Secretary Kerry said that
``the United States will strongly support efforts to collect, document,
preserve, and analyze the evidence of atrocities, and we will do all we
can to see that the perpetrators are held accountable.'' Yet the
Administration has primarily treated the genocide, crimes against
humanity, and war crimes in Iraq and Syria as human rights violations
that need to be documented. These crimes are indeed human rights
violations and documentation, like videos of the Assad regime bombing
hospitals and schools, helps raise awareness in real time.
Yet first and foremost, they are crimes committed by perpetrators
who need to be investigated and prosecuted. This requires collecting,
preserving, and preparing evidence that is usable in criminal trials.
Private groups, like one we will hear from today, are doing this work,
literally risking their lives, without financial support from the
United States. Chris Engels from the Commission for International
Justice and Accountability will testify that ``CIJA's 130 personnel
collect evidence, ensure its safe storage, and undertake legal analysis
with a view to preparing trial-ready case files for present-day and
future criminal prosecutions in domestic and international
jurisdictions,'' with funding from governments other than the United
States. There is no justification for leaving other countries to ensure
this work continues and perpetrators are punished.
When the Executive Branch fails to acts, then Congress must require
it to act. That is why I recently authored and introduced the
bipartisan Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of
2016 (H.R. 5961), with Representative Anna Eshoo as my lead cosponsor.
She has been a tireless champion for Christians and other religious
communities brutalized by ISIS, consistently pushing the Administration
to act, and I am grateful for her efforts. Our partnership is evidence
that this is not about partisanship.
On accountability, H.R. 5961:
Requires the Secretary of State and Administrator of the
U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, to support entities
that are conducting criminal investigations into perpetrators and
building investigative and judicial capacities in Iraq.
Directs the Secretary of State to work with our allies to
ensure that identifying information about perpetrators is included in
security databases and security screening to enable apprehension and
prosecution.
Requires the Attorney General to review U.S. criminal
statutes for gaps in being able to prosecute American perpetrators or
foreign perpetrators present in the U.S.
On assistance for genocide survivors and other Iraqi and Syrian
religious and ethnic groups that have been persecuted, H.R. 5961
requires the Secretary of State to identify:
Threats of persecution, and other warning signs of
genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.
Which groups of genocide survivors or other persecuted
religious or ethnic communities are at risk of forced migration and the
reasons for these risks.
U.S. assistance that has actually reached, and is planned
to reach, these communities.
Entities, including faith-based ones, that are
effectively providing assistance on-the-ground to these communities.
U.S. funding for such entities, if it is funding them,
and justification if the Administration is not. The Administration
would have to explain whether funding these entities is prohibited
under U.S. law.
Finally, H.R. 5961 requires the Administration to designate members
of the three genocide-surviving groups, as well as members of other
persecuted religious and ethnic groups, as of ``particular humanitarian
concern'' to the United States. This would create a Priority Two, often
know as P-2, category. Individuals who meet the criteria would be able
to access the overseas interview process for the U.S. Refugee
Admissions Program without needing a referral from the UN, an NGO, or
the U.S. government.
Under U.S. law, an Administration can make a P-2 designation
anytime without needing additional authorization from Congress. The
United States has a long history of P-2 designations, some created and
required by Congress, like Jews from the former Soviet Union, and some
created by an Administration, like ethnic minorities from Burma in
Malaysia.
This bill is clear: They would have to clear the same security
screening as other Iraqi and Syrian refugees before they can be
admitted to the United States.
One can vote for the SAFE Act, as I did, and support this P-2
provision, as I do. This P-2 designation provides an extra avenue for
displaced genocide survivors to get into the U.S. refugee admissions
application system. The SAFE Act focuses on security screening and
security certification once they are in the system. We can and we must
remain vigilant about our security and committed to compassion for
refugees.
I ask my fellow Members of Congress, including my fellow
Commissioners from the House, to cosponsor H.R. 5961 and help ensure
that it is marked up and onto the floor for a vote as soon as possible.
I ask those of you in the audience today to urge your Member of
Congress to cosponsor this vital legislation and ask people you know to
do likewise. Although time is running out for this Congress, there is
still time to pass this bill and send it to the President to sign into
law.
Prepared Statement of Hon. Roger F. Wicker, Co-Chairman, Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe
Mr. Chairman, thank you for convening this hearing on atrocities in
Iraq and Syria.
The oppression of Christians and other religious communities in
Syria and Iraq has led to an unspeakable humanitarian crisis. Hundreds
of thousands of them have had to flee their homes to seek sanctuary
from the Islamic State--whose savage treatment of these people is well-
documented. The United States has historically protected minorities
facing similar circumstances, and we should do so again now.
I am delighted to see Chris Engels, from the great state of
Mississippi, testifying this morning about the heroic and dangerous
work he and his colleagues at the Commission for International Justice
and Accountability are doing to investigate perpetrators of atrocities
in Iraq and Syria. I hope that the U.S. government will support these
vital criminal investigations.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on this and other key
aspects of the proposed legislation. Mr. Chairman, thank you for
calling this hearing and for your proposals to help address the ongoing
human tragedy in Iraq and Syria.
Prepared Statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Ranking Member,
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
As the number of conflicts around the world continues to grow, and
with so many lives in the balance, it is difficult to imagine a more
urgent priority than preventing mass atrocities and genocide.
There is nowhere where this more evident than in Iraq and Syria.
The Assad regime has dropped over 2,000 barrel bombs on its own
people--hitting mosques, hospitals, schools, and other civilian
infrastructure. The death toll over the course of the conflict has, by
some estimates, surpassed 400,000 people. And that figure does not
include the tens of thousands of missing Syrians. Bashar Assad and his
regime must be held accountable for the systematic murder and torture
of an untold number of innocent Syrian men, women and children.
However, the Syrian regime is not the only actor responsible for
atrocities. As ISIL expanded beyond Mosul, an estimated 450,000
Yezidis, 300,000 Turkmen, and 125,000 Christians, as well as Iraqi
Arabs, Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Shabak and other ethnic and
religious groups, were forced from their communities.
On March 17, of this year, Secretary of State John Kerry issued a
declaration stating, that in his judgement, ISIL ``is responsible for
genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yezidis,
Christians, and Shia Muslims,'' and is ``also responsible for crimes
against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups and
in some cases against Sunni Muslims and Kurds and other minorities.''
The United States is leading the charge to see justice done for all
the victims of ISIL's depravity. U.S. technical assistance in
geospatial analysis helps to identify potential mass graves behind ISIL
lines.
Soon after the dust settles and ISIL is evicted from towns and
territory, U.S. assistance is on the ground helping to excavate and
preserve those mass graves and identify victims while supporting those
who have survived ISIL atrocities, including the many victims of sexual
and gender-based violence.
But more can and should be done.
Ultimately, the full extent of ISIL's crimes must be exposed by an
independent investigation and formal legal determination by a competent
court or tribunal with international support. It is also important to
again note that ISIL is not the only perpetrator of atrocities in Iraq
and Syria. It is therefore critical to hold all perpetrators
accountable for the atrocities they have committed, regardless of their
sect, ethnicity or political affiliation, through fair, credible
trials--in Iraq, Syria, and beyond. Absent or arbitrary justice creates
the fertile ground in which ISIL, and other extremists, can flourish.
As Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I have
made the promotion of international human rights and the prevention of
atrocities and genocide a central component of my work.
Through the Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2016, the
Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the Syrian War
Crimes Accountability Act, I have worked to ensure that, when the
warning signs start to point towards possible conflict and atrocities,
we have a more nimble, efficient, and effective response so our
strategic investments can have a greater impact on promoting stability
and security.
The Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act fleshes out the Atrocity
Prevention Board's functions, and, importantly, institutionalizes a
mechanism for rapid, flexible funding when a crisis is occurring. The
Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act will ensure that civil society
has a say in how the U.S. government conducts its atrocities prevention
efforts, and Congress will have a greater oversight role to make sure
we are getting it right.
We must also remember that an important component to prevention is
accountability; however, this is an area that I think we need to focus
more attention to. Accountability must be part and parcel of our
atrocity prevention work.
So, the consequences for these types of gross violations of human
rights must be substantive and real. This is why I am fighting hard to
get my Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act passed into
law. It authorizes the President to impose sanctions on individuals
responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human
rights, putting them on notice that they cannot escape the consequences
of their actions.
It's also why I've lead a bipartisan effort to hold Bashar Assad
and his regime accountable, via the Syrian War Crimes Accountability
Act, for the atrocities they have committed. It's why, make no mistake,
we will hold ISIL responsible for the genocide it has perpetrated
against Muslims, Yezidis, Christians, and other religious and ethnic
groups in Syria and Iraq.
I'm speaking about the importance, in other words, of transitional
justice. Transitional justice is essential to genocide and atrocity
prevention. It is the moral imperative that guides our response to
serious human rights violations, because the end of impunity and the
promotion of truth and justice are not simply about accountability, but
are about helping societies heal after the trauma of conflict.
Transitional justice, in the form of credible and impartial fact-
finding, is our best defense against the danger of collective blame
because only credible accountability--that in which victims believe--
can bring justice, deterrence, and help to break the many recurring
cycles of violence around the world.
I thank the Helsinki Commission for putting a spotlight on this
important issue and I look forward to the testimony of our witnesses.
Prepared Statement of Chris Engels, Deputy Director for Investigations
and Operations, Commission for International Justice and Accountability
Please let me begin by thanking you, Chairman Smith, Co-Chairman
Wicker, distinguished Commissioners, and the U.S. Helsinki Commission,
for your steadfast support over the decades for the establishment of
the rule of law and the promotion of human rights around the world. Let
me also thank the Chairman and all the members of this Commission for
their continued engagement to address the ongoing conflicts in Syria
and Iraq, specifically the mass atrocities being inflicted upon the
people by their own government as well as by militant extremist groups
like the Islamic State. In this regard, I am honored to testify before
this august Commission on efforts to combat these mass atrocities
through individual criminal accountability.
By way of introduction, my name is Chris Engels and I serve as
Deputy Director for Investigations and Operations at the Commission for
International Justice and Accountability, or CIJA for short. In my
testimony today, I will begin by introducing CIJA, how the organization
came about in response to a serious lack of engagement by public
institutions, and the intricacies of our atrocity investigative work in
Syria and Iraq. Thereafter, I will discuss how CIJA's work relates to
the subject of today's hearing, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and
Accountability Act of 2016, a much-needed, not to mention overdue,
piece of legislation sponsored by Chairman Smith, with the co-
sponsorship of other distinguished Members of the House of
Representatives. Finally, I will conclude by putting forth
recommendations for U.S. action that support U.S. interests in Syria
and Iraq, namely the cessation of atrocities, the establishment of
long-term peace and security, and the eradication of terror being
unleashed by the Assad regime, the Islamic State, and other parties to
this horrid conflict.
This Commission is already familiar with the extent of the mass
atrocities occurring in connection with the Syrian civil war and its
spill over into Iraq. Some members of this Commission personally heard
testimony from the Assad regime defector, known as ``Caesar,'' who
smuggled thousands of images from Syria showing the Assad regime's
systematic torture and murder of individuals--deemed ``enemies''--in
security centers throughout Syria. By passing House Resolutions 75 and
121 so overwhelmingly, Representatives have denounced the horrific war
crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide (collectively called
atrocity crimes) being perpetrated by the Islamic State, the Assad
regime, and others militant actors in Syria and Iraq.
For years now, human rights groups, as well as the United Nations,
have sounded alarm bells in the wake of the blatant disregard for
humanity and catastrophic displacement occurring in Syria and Iraq. In
addressing the Commission, my role today is not to elaborate on these
facts which, unfortunately, are known all too well. Instead, I am here
to talk about individual criminal accountability for these terrible
crimes and the current, as yet untapped, opportunities for the U.S.
government to support organizations working to ensure those responsible
see the inside of a courtroom. My role is, further, to highlight the
concrete steps being taken, as well as additional steps that can be
taken, now to secure justice for the victims of the continuing
atrocities in Syria and Iraq. Like CIJA, I am sure this Commission and
other members of Congress want to see such discussion take the form of
concrete action.
So, what is CIJA? In short, CIJA is a non-governmental organization
that carries out criminal investigations of atrocity crimes that adhere
to the highest standards found in any international or domestic
jurisdiction. Its senior leadership is made up of individuals with many
years of experience in international and hybrid courts and tribunals as
well as domestic war crimes units. Operating in active conflict zones,
CIJA's 130 personnel collect evidence, ensure its safe storage, and
undertake legal analysis with a view to preparing trial-ready case
files for present-day and future criminal prosecutions in domestic and
international jurisdictions. The fact that CIJA does this work as a
non-governmental organization, as opposed to a domestic or
international legal authority, is truly unprecedented.
With respect to our evidence collection, I would like to emphasize
that our analytical interest extends beyond merely documenting the
crimes themselves, something the UN Commissions of Inquiry and a number
of human rights NGOs already do very well. Rather, CIJA's focus is on
collecting, corroborating, and storing ``linkage evidence,'' which is
information that ``links'' superiors, national leaders and remote
organizers of atrocities to the atrocity crimes committed on the
ground.
This ``linkage evidence'' is the most pivotal part of an atrocity
crimes investigation, and as any good prosecutor or criminal
investigator knows, criminal investigations done contemporaneously with
the criminal acts are essential to ensuring later accountability.
Otherwise, as we have seen in the past, evidence is lost and those
responsible for these mass human rights violations go unpunished, able
to commit more crimes and create more instability in the current or
future conflicts. Whether in Syria, Iraq or beyond, the goal of this
work is to prevent such mistakes from reoccurring once accountability
mechanisms are in place--be it in the short term or in the next ten
years.
However, it should be made clear that accountability options exist
today and they do not require the establishment of an international
court or tribunal to have impact. Evidence collected today is key to
facilitating present-day accountability efforts in national
jurisdictions where perpetrators can be prosecuted without the need for
an international justice mechanism. For instance, CIJA currently
assists various countries in their domestic prosecutions of regime
officials found in their jurisdictions, Islamic State foreign fighters
returning home, and other members of extremist groups who have been
apprehended.
This assistance takes various forms.
In Syria, CIJA has roughly 40 investigators on the ground, handling
multiple operations throughout the country. The primary mission of
these investigators is to collect voluminous amounts of evidence on the
Assad regime for later exploitation for evidentiary and legal analysis
at CIJA's headquarters. To date, this operation has resulted in the
accumulation and safe storage of over 600,000 pages of regime
documentation, including a significant amount of regime military and
security intelligence records, all while ensuring chain of custody to a
criminal law standard.
With this wealth of information, CIJA has been able to create a
names database of over one million regime officials--including
individuals from the highest to lowest levels of its military, security
intelligence, and political bodies. This type of database has long-term
potential as an information resource for countries, such as the United
States, in support of their criminal accountability, immigration, and
targeted sanctions efforts as well as future state-building and
lustration efforts.
This evidence is the basis for multiple ``pre-trial'' legal case
files, developed by CIJA's legal team, which a domestic or
international prosecutor could present to judges before trial. For
example, the first three case files contain evidence against twenty-
five high-ranking Assad regime officials--including President Assad,
himself--establishing the role of these governmental officials in the
mass torture, the likes of which the House of Representatives saw in
the aforementioned Caesar testimony.
In Iraq, CIJA works according to a memorandum of understanding with
the Kurdistan Regional Government that provides us with logistical and
security support as well as human resources. Approximately 20 CIJA
personnel are currently deployed in Iraq, with teams in three different
locations. CIJA's work in Iraq focuses squarely on atrocities
perpetuated by the Islamic State, including those against ethnic
Yazidis, Christians, and other minority groups in the Ninevah
Governorate. In its first Iraq-oriented case file, CIJA identified two
dozen suspects involved in orchestrating Islamic State slavery
operations that resulted in appalling rates of sexual violence and
servitude, primarily against minority women and girls.
Again, the brave victims who have spoken out, as well as the work
of NGOs and UN reports, have highlighted the plight of these women and
girls. Through our work, we have established the patterns of these
crimes and, in turn, have identified a number of responsible
individuals. In addition to the abovementioned file, CIJA continues to
build a number of legal dossiers against Islamic State fighters and
senior leaders behind these atrocities.
In sum, the six case files completed by CIJA to date identify over
60 individual perpetrators, reaching up the hierarchy of the Syrian
regime and the Islamic State, who are responsible for a wide array of
atrocity crimes. Of course, many more individuals are responsible for
crimes in the region, and CIJA continues to investigate and build case
files to address ongoing atrocities. However, the number of suspects in
our legal briefs is already too high to be addressed by the ICC, even
in the case of the referral of both Syria and Iraq. Indeed, prosecuting
such cases would keep any future ad hoc or hybrid court busy for many
years.
I will now refer to a few, key recommendations for incorporating
individual criminal accountability within the international, as well as
the U.S., agenda on Syria and Iraq.
Recommendation #1--Support atrocity accountability efforts despite the
lack of an international court with criminal jurisdiction in Syria or
Iraq.
With intervention by the ICC or any other international tribunal
for Syrian and Iraqi atrocity crimes still unlikely, many question the
point of criminal accountability work today. Examples from the past 25
years demonstrate that even in conflicts where accountability is not
addressed during the conflict, discussions often turn to justice soon
after a return to peace. Preparing for that possibility today, before
evidence is destroyed or made otherwise unavailable, is key to ensure
these future efforts are successful.
There is no need to wait for an international court of tribunal,
however. There are criminal accountability options available, which
should be utilized today. At CIJA, for example, we receive a dozen
requests for assistance each month from war crimes, counter-terrorism,
and immigration authorities throughout Europe. While the Syrian
conflict continues, these efforts constitute a credible recourse to
criminal accountability and, indeed, demonstrate to Syrians and the
world that perpetrators found in European and North American
jurisdictions will be prosecuted for their crimes.
Recommendation #2--Support the creation of competent local courts to
try atrocity crimes based on already collected evidence demonstrating
the culpability of individuals for these crimes.
In addition to accountability in European and North American
criminal courts, there is an even more immediate road to justice in
Iraq. A number of high-ranking IS officials could be put on trial in a
specially equipped court in Erbil, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
An Iraqi chamber would hear complex cases against members of the
Islamic State, applying the Iraqi penal code. With the assistance of
international experts and professionals, such a chamber would be
mandated to hear those cases in line with the highest international
standards of fair trial and due process.
Placing the court in KRI would ensure security guarantees which
cannot be currently replicated in Baghdad while at the same time
provide an opportunity to hear sexual enslavement of Yazidis cases in
the vicinity where those atrocities took place, closer to the victims'
home, and where most of the perpetrators are currently held and likely
to be in the future. Such a chamber could be established swiftly and
efficiently, at minimal cost. What is more, depending on the changing
security situation, the court could be replicated in other Iraqi
cities.
Based on our experience on the ground, based on interviews with a
wide swath of affected groups, the majority want legitimate criminal
justice, whether in an international or domestic court, or both. After
enduring shocking atrocities, these groups are eager to cooperate and
await a judicial forum to do so.
CIJA's proposal has already garnered support from the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG), and it is possible that similar support may
come from Baghdad soon. We are currently engaged in discussions with
the KRG on training their judges, prosecutors, attorneys, and other
relevant professionals to get this chamber up and running. In sum, all
elements are in place to start the prosecution of IS members in a
competent court of law.
Recommendation #3--Support criminal investigations to ensure that
individual criminal accountability for atrocity crimes and all of its
attendant benefits that flow from it can be realized.
Congress's clear intent in the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and
Accountability Act of 2016 is to hold individuals, whether from the
Assad regime, the Islamic State, or other parties to atrocities in
Syria and Iraq, criminally responsible for atrocity crimes. This intent
is reflected not only in this bill, but in many resolutions passed over
the past five years. Yet, to effectuate this intent, criminal
investigations into these atrocity crimes must be supported and
bolstered.
The atrocities are unfortunately not waning, but expanding. As Mr.
Chairman, Mr. Co-Chairman, and each Commissioner have seen for
themselves, before this most recent ceasefire, the Assad regime has
continued its use of barrel bombs, and a retreating Islamic State has
left behind more mass graves than previously thought. Collecting
evidence, storing, analyzing, and preparing it for trial, and doing all
of the above to the highest international standard available, is
essential to present day and future accountability aspirations.
No matter how critical, the above efforts require further support.
Some of the U.S.'s closest allies have helped make these atrocity crime
investigations a reality, because they see the present-day and future
benefits. Canada and Germany, in particular, were the first to support
efforts to ensure accountability for Islamic State crimes in Iraq.
One such tangible benefit is the bolstering of the overall rule of
law capacity in Syria and Iraq. Training and mentoring Syrian, Iraqi,
and other regional investigators, lawyers, and analysts to do atrocity
crime work today will have a significant impact on the quality of
justice tomorrow. With a view to a post-conflict scenario, sustained
capacity-building support in both countries will not only reinforce the
legitimacy and efficacy of whatever existing or new international
tribunal is bestowed jurisdiction, but it will also be an investment in
the long-term establishment of the rule of law in a future Syria and
Iraq.
Recommendation #4--Unwavering support of individual criminal
responsibility for atrocity crimes, regardless of policy complications,
is the most proven way of establishing durable peace and security.
Otherwise, the risk of future atrocities and destabilization increases
greatly.
Why does atrocity accountability and criminal justice in Syria and
Iraq matter to the United States and, more importantly, to its
interests in the region? As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., proclaimed,
and is now inscribed in marble just down the street from here at his
national memorial, ``[t]rue peace is not merely the absence of tension;
it is the presence of justice.'' Dr. King's words echoed those of the
American founders who, likewise, knew that a properly developed society
does not rest solely on security, but on a rule of law that applies to
all equally regardless
of stature.
For the violence to end, but more importantly for Syria and Iraq to
evolve into stable, peaceful, and just societies, it is simply not
enough to broker a political settlement to the Syrian civil war, nor to
defeat the Islamic State and reclaim the territory it has taken in Iraq
and Syria. Assad regime leaders and Islamic State fundamentalists must
face a court of law, confront credible evidence of their criminality,
and if proven beyond a reasonable doubt, found guilty. These trials
have the power to serve as tangible examples to all in the region that
the rule of law is here, and here to stay.
Without actual and symbolic justice, the seeds of future conflict,
cataclysmic destabilization, unprecedented human displacement, and
militant terrorism lay undisturbed and ready to grow. These
considerations may sound like lofty ideals, but the United States
serves as the best example that respect for the rule of law and human
rights results in a thriving, stable, and just society. The same
principles undoubtedly apply elsewhere.
Recommendation #5--Ensuring individual responsibility for atrocity
crimes is an untapped resource for Countering Violent Extremism efforts
that will help tilt public relations power away from militant extremist
groups like the Islamic State.
Holding militant extremists criminally responsible for atrocity
crimes is drastically underutilized as a Countering Violent Extremism
(CVE) tool, and this Act will help reverse this trend. To explain, for
the U.S. and its allies to better serve its interest in stamping out
violent extremism--whether in the form of Islamic State or other like
groups--governments must broaden their conception and use of the rule
of law. Currently, the vast majority of militant radicals are
prosecuted under terrorism laws, often for material support to
terrorism. An unintended consequence of prosecution under these laws is
that it sends the message to vulnerable youth--in particular Muslim
males--that the ``West'' labels them as ``terrorists.'' In turn,
fundamentalist enablers are empowered to push the ``clash of cultures''
narrative.
An alternative to the above is to support and complement anti-
terrorism laws with domestic and international mechanisms devised to
prosecute members of militant groups, such as the Islamic State, as
murders, torturers, rapists, slavers, war criminals, or even
genocidaires. With these individuals seen as criminals of epic
proportion, vulnerable youth will be far less likely to see them as
``defenders of the Muslim faith,'' but rather those who twist Islam for
criminal ends. Prosecution of these individuals as atrocity criminals
provide fact-based counter-messaging to the ``clash of civilizations''
narrative that is currently so effective. With access to quality
evidence of these specific crimes, such prosecutions before more
effective and more likely.
In summation, please let me conclude with the statement that this
Act is emblematic of some of the United States' best values: adherence
to the rule of law, the protection of human rights, and the delivery of
humanitarian assistance. These values underpin a just and peaceful
society, especially those trying to transition out of the throes of
chaos and tragedy. It is for these and other reasons that CIJA and a
broad range of humanitarian organizations, including faith-based
groups, support the prompt passage of this legislation. Thank you.
Overview of Support Recieved by CIJA From Individual Donors (2013-2016)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Activities Total Financial Support Total Financial Support
Donor Financed Period Financed (EUR) (USD)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom (FCO) Syria 2013-2017 GBP 4,401,023 USD 6,672,238
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
European Union Syria 2013-2017 EUR 4,999,830 USD 5,949,329
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada Syria/Iraq 2015-2018 CAD 4,918,104 USD 3,810,918
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Denmark Syria 2014-2016 DKK 10,103,513 USD 1,643,392
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norway Syria/Iraq 2014-2016 NOK 9,900,000 USD 1,575,258
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Germany Syria/Iraq 2014-2016 EUR 1,130,771 USD 1,355,797
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IREX Syria 2013-2014 USD 777,225 USD 777,226
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switzerland Syria/Iraq 2014-2016 EUR 286,900 USD 350,521
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prepared Statement of Ambassador David Scheffer, Mayer Brown/Robert A.
Helman Professor of Law; Director, Center for International Human
Rights, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe: I am pleased to testify in support
of the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2016
(H.R. 5961), which Helsinki Commission Chairman Chris Smith has
introduced and of which Representatives Anna Eshoo, Trent Franks, and
Jeff Fortenberry are original co-sponsors. I do so as a law professor
at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, as the former U.S.
Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001), and as the Chair
of the American Bar Association Working Group on Crimes Against
Humanity, which has been examining options for legislation to
incorporate crimes against humanity in the federal criminal code. Since
January 2012 I also have been the U.N. Secretary-
General's Special Expert on U.N. Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials.
However, the views I express here today are my personal views and do
not necessarily reflect the position of any institution to which I am
associated.
H.R. 5961 demonstrates an undeniable logic: The survivors of
genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes (which many sources,
including the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and I
collectively describe as ``atrocity crimes'') in Iraq and Syria merit
the fullest possible assistance of our government, including
consideration for admission of victim refugees to the United States.
The further logic is that the perpetrators of the atrocity crimes not
only in Iraq and Syria but elsewhere in the world should be subject to
investigation and prosecution under Title 18 if federal jurisdiction
reaches them. The crime of genocide and war crimes already can be
prosecuted, under certain conditions, against not only Americans but
also aliens. (The War Crimes Act of 1996, as amended, does not cover
aliens who commit war crimes outside the United States and where there
are no American victims. Thus, such individuals also could find
sanctuary in the United States.)
However, much more work is required to modernize the federal
criminal code to ensure that perpetrators of crimes against humanity do
not find sanctuary from prosecution in the United States. Currently,
perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes under certain
circumstances theoretically can live freely in the United States
provided they are admitted on immigrant or non-immigrant visas, either
under false representation to immigration authorities or because our
law does not yet criminalize their particular atrocity crime and does
not even ask relevant questions in immigration procedures. H.R. 5961
would go a long way to address this void in our federal code.
Section 4(c) of the bill requires the Attorney General, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, to conduct a review of
existing criminal statutes concerning atrocity crimes to determine the
extent of federal jurisdiction over perpetrators with at least one of
several connections to the United States, to determine what statutes
currently provide for extraterritorial jurisdiction of crimes against
humanity or war crimes, and to assess how the absence of criminal
statutes impede the prosecution of such crimes, including if the
perpetrator is captured by U.S. military forces outside the United
States and foreign prosecution is unavailable. The Attorney General's
review will discover that federal jurisdiction over crimes against
humanity and war crimes (under certain circumstances) remains non-
existent or very limited.
But H.R. 5961, if enacted, will undertake reviews that confirm the
reality of limited federal jurisdiction and lead, I hope, to additional
legislation to cover egregious voids and gaps in the federal criminal
code. It is a raw fact, for example, that the United States is
currently a sanctuary for alien perpetrators of crimes against humanity
or certain war crimes who are fleeing the reach of the law overseas but
who might be subject, at most, to deportation for immigration fraud in
the United States. Even then, such deportation might not be to a
foreign court for purposes of prosecution but rather simply to live,
prosper, and pose a continuing risk elsewhere and perhaps to the
national security of the United States and its interests abroad. I
attach to this testimony two lists of cases under federal law that
focus on immigration fraud, typically with the penalty of deportation,
even though the immigrant was allegedly involved in atrocity crimes or
other serious human rights abuses.
While their number is unknown, there probably are individuals who
committed atrocity crimes overseas and have yet to be discovered
currently residing in the United States. If they are tracked down, the
result should be something more than the possibility of mere
deportation. With new statutes criminalizing such conduct, the United
States, under the rule of double criminality, would be more easily able
to extradite such aliens to foreign jurisdictions that have similar
laws and could prosecute them in their own courts. Our mutual legal
assistance treaties also would be more potent instruments of
international cooperation. In any event, the United States should deter
their arrival in the first place with tough criminal penalties for
alien perpetrators of crimes against humanity or certain war crimes who
are plotting to arrive in the United States to reside or otherwise take
advantage of immigration privileges without fear of prosecution.
H.R. 5961 requires answers as to the state of current federal law;
it mandates the Attorney General to determine additional statutory
authorities necessary to prosecute a United States person or a foreign
person within the territory of the United States for atrocity crimes.
Title 18 of the U.S. Code desperately requires such review by the
Attorney General, an endeavor that I am confident will recommend a
statute to fill the void to cover, at a minimum, crimes against
humanity. The critical first step in achieving that end is H.R. 5961.
I recommend, however, that the statute include a defined term of
``atrocity crimes'' that describes the collective body of genocide,
crimes against humanity, and war crimes. This would ease repeated
reference to that set of crimes in the statutory language and make the
terminology more accessible to the media and the general public.
Finally, there is a focused effort within the Iraq and Syria
Genocide Relief and Accountability Act to provide necessary support to
track individuals suspected of committing atrocity crimes in Iraq since
January 2014 or Syria since March 2011 and to preserve the chain of
evidence for prosecution of these individuals in domestic courts,
hybrid courts, and internationalized domestic courts. Such judicial
endeavors may not materialize for years, but it is imperative now to
support current and future efforts to track suspects and gather
evidence competently and professionally as it is discovered on the
battlefield and elsewhere. The bill also would strengthen the
government's efforts to identify and assist members of religious or
ethnic groups under threat of atrocity crimes in Iraq or Syria. In this
regard, I commend the work of my fellow panelist Chris Engels and that
of his colleagues at the Commission for International Justice and
Accountability, and urge the U.S. Government to join with them to
ensure accountability for atrocity crimes.
These would be major preventive steps, first by supporting criminal
investigations to bring war criminals to justice, thus undermining
their influence and participation in atrocity crimes, and second by
mitigating the risks of forced migration. While we should recognize
that the United States and other governments have significantly shared
in and continue to undertake the massive challenge of refugee relief,
the United States Government would, under the guidance of H.R. 5961,
take extraordinary steps to respond to both the refugee and
accountability crises presented by the recent situations in Iraq and
Syria.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify before the Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Prepared Statement of Stephen M. Rasche, Esq., Legal Counsel and
Director of IDP Resettlement Programs, Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of
Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
I. Introduction and Background.
Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the Commission for allowing
me to speak to you on behalf of the persecuted Christians of Northern
Iraq.
My name is Stephen Rasche, and I presently reside in Erbil, capital
of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and home to what is presently the last
viable Christian community in Iraq. In Erbil I serve on the staff of
Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil. Within that context I serve as
legal counsel for external affairs, Director of IDP Resettlement
Programs, and Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University in Erbil.
As brief background, the Christian population of Iraq, over 1.5
million in 2003, now numbers barely over 200,000. Over 100,000 of these
live in the greater Erbil region. Of those in the greater Erbil region,
some 10,500 families are IDPs (internally displaced persons), numbering
approximately 70,000 people.
In August of 2014, when ISIS took control of Nineveh Plain, the
IDPs of Nineveh and Mosul largely fled to the Erbil region. This
included over 12,000 Christian families. There in Erbil, in the early
absence of any meaningful institutional humanitarian aid, the Kurdistan
Regional Government assigned overall responsibility for Christian IDPs
to the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese. The reasoning behind this was
that the Chaldean Archdiocese was the largest existing Diocese in Erbil
for which its leader (Archbishop Bashar Warda) was also based in Erbil,
and not an IDP himself, which was the case for the other major
Christian churches. A part of this responsibility required that the
Chaldean Archdiocese properly coordinated relief efforts with all other
Christian Churches.
Having accepted this responsibility, and in coordination with the
other Christian churches of the region, the Chaldean Archdiocese set
about the immediate development of a humanitarian aid operation using
the combined staffs of the churches. This effort relied on the private
assistance of Christian aid organizations from around the world, which
provided critical support in the immediate aftermath of the crisis, and
have continued to do so to this day.
In the following months, IDPs were first placed in tents and
unfinished buildings, then into Caravans (construction trailers) in
camp settings, and most recently, for some fortunate families, into
group homes rented by the Archdiocese through our rental assistance
program. Additionally, some families had moved into group homes early
on, and these families all received rental assistance from the
Archdiocese as well. Also during this time some 13 schools and five
medical clinics were established, along with monthly food package
programs, all privately funded, to serve the needs of IDPs.
We are serving the various needs of approximately 10,500 Christian
IDP families. (Two thousand of the 12,000 Christian IDP families who
fled ISIS into Northern Iraq subsequently left the area.) Within this
overall number of families of assisted, nearly 6,000 families are
presently receiving housing rental assistance, at a total cost of
approximately $650,000 per month. Our food package program serves over
10,000 families at a cost of approximately $720,000 per month, and our
medical clinics serve over 6,000 families, at a total cost of
approximately $80,000 per month inclusive of all medicines.
While our responsibility lies primarily with service to the
Christian IDPs, we have regularly extended care to non-Christians as
well. Our schools and medical clinics serve Yazidi and Muslim IDPs, and
our food and housing rental programs include many Yazidi families.
It is noteworthy to point out the coexistence of the Yazidi and
Christian IDPs, many of which fled their homes together as groups and
have continued to live together in these same groups within the IDP
centers. While the management of these IDP centers rests with us as
Christians, the care of the Yazidis in our centers is identical to that
being provided to the Christians.
All of this has been done exclusively through private aid, which to
date totals approximately $26,000,000. Our largest donors include the
EU based Aid to the Church in Need, the Knights of Columbus, the US
based Nazarene Fund, The Italian Episcopal Conference, The Chaldean
Churches of the USA, and Caritas of Italy. There are many other private
donors, all of which can be found in reports previously submitted to
the office of Congressman Smith.
It is no exaggeration to say that without these private donors, the
situation for Christians in Northern Iraq would have collapsed, and the
vast majority of these families would without question have already
joined the refugee diaspora now destabilizing the Middle East and
Europe.
We say this because throughout this entire period of crisis, since
August 2014, other than initial supplies of tents and tarps, the
Christian community in Iraq has received nothing in aid from any US aid
agencies or the UN. The reason for this rests in the ``Individual
Needs'' Policy adhered to by the US government and the UN, as well as
other US backed aid agencies.
Essentially, when we have approached any of these entities
regarding the provision of aid assistance to the Christians of Northern
Iraq, we have been told that we have done too well in our private
efforts, and that the standards we have provided for our people, bare
as they are, exceed the minimum individual needs standards currently
existing for those agencies.
Additionally, we are advised that any Christian IDPs who would
choose to seek refuge in existing UN camps could receive aid there if
they applied. However, even UN representatives themselves privately
admit that the Christians would be under real threat of additional
violence and persecution within the Muslim majority camps. In any case,
given the recent history, there are no Christians who will enter the UN
camps for fear of violence against them.
II. Issues for Consideration.
With this all as background, as the time of forced displacement is
now over two years, our private donors are running out of ability to
sustain our current level of care. This brings us to two critical
points to share with this Commission.
1. Standard of Care Requirements in Context. While the standard of
care being received by Christians may marginally exceed that being
provided elsewhere by the UN and similar organizations, there are no
other IDP groups in Iraq that face the immediate existential threat now
being faced by the Christians. This level of care, which we have
provided exclusively through private funding, is the only thing, other
than their deep Christian faith, which has given these IDPs continued
hope and incentive to stay in the region until they may eventually
return to their original homes, or set up new lives inside the
Kurdistan Region. Simply put, absent this minimal care, the few
remaining Christians of Iraq would largely scatter into the diaspora
and disappear for good from their ancestral homes.
12. Adherence to Individual Needs vs. Extinction of a People. From a
moral standpoint, we ask you to consider that the uniquely perilous
status of the Christian community requires that they be viewed not as
individuals, using the standard ``Individual Needs'' policy assessment,
but rather as a group, threatened with extinction as a people, the
victims of genocide and a cycle of historical violence which seeks to
remove them permanently from their ancestral homes. While not
discounting the very real hardship being faced by other IDP groups, it
is the Christians in particular who face the real and immediate threat
of extinction in Iraq.
III. Specific Requests.
As we near the beginning of the expected liberation of Mosul and
the Nineveh Plain, we request that Commissioners consider supporting
the allocation of $9,000,000 in direct aid specifically designated to
supporting the existing humanitarian and educational aid programs of
the remaining Christians of Northern Iraq. This amount would allow for
continuation of the existing housing, medical, food, and educational
programs for an additional six months, by which time expected events in
the region would allow for an informed reassessment.
While understanding there may be legal constraints of the US
Government regarding recipients of US backed aid, we would request that
the ultimate use and implementation of any such aid be managed through
our existing system, which is already thoroughly integrated into the
Christian community. This could readily be done under proper oversight
from an approved distributor of US government aid, and we stand by
ready to work in good faith with any such partner. Our existing aid
donors regularly audit our use of funds, and we are thoroughly familiar
and capable in this regard.
Provision of this aid would not completely end the ongoing support
from our existing private donors. Rather, with basic needs now being
met largely through established governmental aid, it would allow for
our decreasing private funds to be utilized for urgently needed
reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. Thus the support of US
humanitarian aid would greatly leverage and increase the effectiveness
of the remaining private aid.
III. Closing Comments.
Members of the Commission, within our small group in Erbil, every
morning we wake up and rob six Peters to pay twelve Pauls. And every
night we pray that we will be given the strength and the financial help
from somewhere to get us through the next day. We have been doing this
for two years now. We are doubtful that we can sustain things much
further under our present limitations. Our private donors are reaching
their breaking point, and we feel it, as do the tens of thousands of
people who are in our care.
And yet, these next twelve months remain perhaps the most critical
of all for us. If the efforts and sacrifices made to remove the evil of
ISIS from Northern Iraq are to have a purpose, and if the rightful
designation of genocide is to have a purpose as well, it is critical
that the remaining Christians receive, and receive now, the direct
support necessary to remain in place as a viable community. How utterly
tragic would it be, that the established governmental aid community
allowed these persecuted people, so vital as bridge builders in any
peace and reconciliation process, to disappear just as we reached the
time wherein a rebirth was within sight.
I thank you for your time and for your continued efforts.
Prepared Statement of William Canny, Executive Director, U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services
I am Bill Canny, the Executive Director of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/
MRS). I am grateful for this opportunity to testify before the Helsinki
Commission--grateful to Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ),
Chair, and Senator Roger F. Wicker (R-MS), Co-Chair, and also Ranking
Members Representative Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) and Senator Benjamin L.
Cardin (D-MD), and all the Commission members.
USCCB welcomes the introduction of H.R. 5961, the bi-partisan Iraq
and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act, sponsored by Chairman
Smith. We appreciate this opportunity to share our thoughts and ideas
about the bill, as well as share other recommendations to protect those
fleeing atrocities in Syria and Iraq.
The work of the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration is
carried out by USCCB's Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS),
which is the largest U.S. refugee resettlement agency, resettling about
one quarter of the refugees each year. MRS works with over 100 Catholic
Charities offices across the United States to welcome and serve not
only refugees but also unaccompanied refugee and migrant children,
victims of human trafficking, survivors of torture, and other at-risk
migrants.
The U.S. Catholic Church also relates closely with the Catholic
Church in countries throughout the world, where our worldwide Catholic
communion serves the needs of the most marginalized regardless of
nationality, ethnicity, race, or religious affiliation. We serve many
refugees, internally displaced persons, and many refugee host
communities straining under the large numbers of people fleeing
persecution and war. The Church's deep experience in combating poverty
and forced migration and their root causes in the Middle East and
throughout the world also includes the work of, among others, Catholic
Relief Services (CRS), the official overseas relief and development
agency of the U.S. Catholic bishops, and the Geneva-based,
International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC).
The level of loss, displacement, and human suffering is staggering
in this conflict. \1\ Over 10.9 million Syrians have been forcibly
displaced--6.1 million as internally displaced people (IDPs) inside the
country and 4.8 million as refugees who have fled to neighboring
countries. Over half of the refugees are under the age of 18 and over
35 percent are under the age of 12. Over 3.5 million Iraqis have been
forcibly displaced--3.3 million as IDPs inside the country and a
conservative estimate of 233,000 Iraqis as refugees in neighboring
countries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Statistics in this paragraph are from the following sources:
UNOCHA, Iraq: A Worsening Humanitarian Crisis, July 31, 2016 (number of
Iraqi IDPs); UNHCR, Iraq: Mosul Situation Flash Update, July 31, 2016
(number of Iraqi refugees in seven neighboring countries); UNOCHA,
Syrian Arab Republic: An Overview, September 2016 (number of IDPs,
refugees, under 17, under 12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the March 17, 2016 statement of Secretary of State Kerry
detailed and you indicated in the Act's findings, many of the people
are forced to flee due to atrocities. This includes ISIS's genocidal
actions against Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslim, and the crimes
against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by ISIS or the Syrian
government against the Sunni majority, or the Kurds, and other ethnic
minorities. Genocide Against Christians in the Middle East, March 16,
2016, coauthored by the Knights of Columbus and In Defense of
Christians, details further persecution that Christians have suffered
in the region.
USCCB shares this deep concern for Syrian and Iraqi victims of
atrocities. USCCB's Committee on International Justice and Peace, and
its Committee on Migration have made numerous, recent missions to the
region and written two assessment and solidarity reports about the
plight of refugees in the region. \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ USCCB/MRS, Mission to the Middle East: A Report of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops on Syrian Refugees, 2012; and USCCB/MRS,
Refuge and Hope in the Time of ISIS: The Urgent Need for Protection,
Humanitarian Support, and Durable Solutions in Turkey, Bulgaria, and
Greece, 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In our most recent report in 2015, the delegation described
arriving in southern Turkey as some 130,000 Kurds, an ethnic minority
in Syria, were forced over the course of a weekend to seek refuge in
Turkey as ISIS devastated their city of Kobane.
As the trip continued, the USCCB delegation met a growing number of
religious minorities, including Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims.
The delegation met a Syrian Christian in his 20s, newly converted to
Christianity, who boldly shared his faith with the arriving ISIS
fighters to his village. Surprised that they let him go, he went home
to the family home several hours later to find his parents and siblings
slaughtered by ISIS. At Sunday Mass in Istanbul, we met with a church
full of Iraqi Christian villagers who had fled en masse from ISIS. One
of the village leaders had stood up to ISIS. The next morning the
villagers found the leader's severed head on his doorstep.
Based on what we continue to see and hear from the region, we are
urging the U.S. government and the international community to help
address the root causes of this gruesome conflict, the root causes of
the forced migration, and to help build an inclusive society so that
those forced to flee, regardless of religion or ethnicity, would be
able to make a safe, humane, voluntary return at the end of the
conflict, including Christians and other religious and ethnic
minorities. At the same time, we urge the United States and
international community to continue to protect and support internally
displaced people and refugees from Syrian and Iraq, and also to support
and keep stable the neighboring countries that host most of them. As is
the case for most refugees, such return is the first choice and option
most viable for most refugees. Meanwhile, for some refugees--because of
their vulnerability, the trauma they experienced, or their need for
family reunification--waiting for return is not viable. There are a
number of options available to the United States and other nations to
help alleviate the suffering of these most vulnerable within already
vulnerable refugee populations. One of those options is to offer
resettlement in the United States to a relatively small number of them.
Some of the most vulnerable include majority Sunni from Syria, as
well as religious minorities in Syria, such as Christians, Shia,
Yazidi, and others who are in grave danger there because of their
religious beliefs. We have urged the United States and other concerned
countries, as well as countries in the region, to do more to protect
them and others who are facing persecution at the hands of both state
actors and non-state actors.
We are pleased that the United States has resettled more than
10,000 Syrian refugees in the current fiscal year. Indeed, while we are
pleased at the increased number of Syrian refugees who have been
offered protection in the United States over the last year, we believe
that the United States has the capacity to admit and resettle even more
than that number in the coming fiscal year, and we stand ready to work
with the Administration, Congress, and local communities in achieving
that end.
However, we are gravely concerned by the small number of religious
minorities who have been resettled in the United States during the
current fiscal year. For example, only .53 percent of Syrians resettled
this year in the United States have been Christians, down from 1.7
percent last year. Last year's number was close to being in line with
the percentage of Christians among all the Syrians registered as
refugees, which was around 2 percent. It is unclear at the time of this
writing precisely why the percentage of Syrian Christians, who have
been registered as refugees or resettled in the United States as
refugees, is so low. More needs to be done to assess why this is so and
then to address it. It is clear, however, that Christians and other
religious minorities have become a target for brutality at the hands of
the non-state actor ISIS, and that they are fleeing for their lives,
and that far too few of them have been attaining U.S. resettlement.
We commend H.R. 5961 for recognizing the plight of Christians and
other religious minorities and taking steps to improve their access to
the U.S. refugee admissions program. We have some questions about
whether the bill's provision amending Section 599D of the Foreign
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act,
1990 is the right approach and respectfully suggest that creating a new
Priority 2 (P-2) classification in the U.S. refugee admissions
program's priority system for religious and ethnic minority victims of
genocide could more effectively achieve the laudable goals of this
legislation. We believe that a P-2 designation would increase the
access that Christians and other religious minorities have to the U.S.
refugee admissions program, and we support the inclusion of this
provision in H.R. 5961. While supporting this effort to increase access
for religious and ethnic minorities to resettlement, we also encourage
that all the most vulnerable refugees in Syria and Iraq continue to
have access to resettlement as well.
In March 2016, you, Chairman Smith, and others were instrumental in
ensuring the passage of H. Con. Res. 75, the ``Genocide'' resolution
that drew attention to the atrocities being committed against
Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle
East, especially in Iraq and Syria. Your bipartisan support on this
issue complemented Secretary of State John Kerry's March 17 decision to
declare that Daesh/ISIS was committing genocide against these groups in
areas under its control.
Beyond the resettlement solutions for Christians and other
religious and ethnic minorities, we appreciate that this new
legislation takes the ``Genocide'' resolution one step further and
seeks to help those who have been harmed and to hold the perpetrators
accountable. In particular, it is noteworthy that H.R. 5961 calls for
assistance for survivors of genocide and allows faith-based
organizations (such as Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and International
Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)), who already have a record of
providing humanitarian assistance to these populations, to be funded
for such life-saving work.
USCCB has consistently raised its voice in support of Christians
and other religious and ethnic minorities who are facing persecution in
the Middle East. USCCB has joined with Pope Francis in condemning the
actions of those who would persecute others solely for reasons of their
faith and ethnicity. CRS stands ready to provide protection and support
in the region to IDPs and refugees from Syria and Iraq. USCCB/MRS and
ICMC stand ready to assist in the resettlement of those most vulnerable
refugees from Syria and Iraq who are unable to return home, including
Christians and other religious or ethnic minorities.
May I again commend you for your efforts to help and support the
suffering victims of persecution in Iraq and Syria. USCCB looks forward
to working with you as this legislation proceeds to find the most
effective way to implement a P-2 and take other measures that assure a
greater participation in the U.S. resettlement program by Christians
and other religious and ethnic minorities from Syria and Iraq.
Thank you.
Prepared Statement of Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight, Knights of
Columbus
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the Commission, for this
opportunity to testify. Congress and the Administration have our
appreciation for their declarations of genocide that speak on behalf of
victims, who often feel that the world has forgotten them.
Mr. Chairman, you, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Fortenberry and Mr. Franks are to
be commended for your leadership in introducing H.R. 5961, the Iraq and
Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act. In testimony in May, I
outlined six principles for averting the extinction of Christians and
other minorities in the Middle East.
I am grateful that H.R. 5961 makes progress in all six of these
areas. Thank you, and be assured of the full support of the Knights of
Columbus in your work to bring this bill to the President's desk with
all deliberate speed.
I would like to speak to you today about three matters.
First, our government's humanitarian aid bureaucracy is often not
making aid available to communities that need it most.
Section 5 of the bill directs the Secretary of State in
consultation with Administration officials to prioritize relief
particularly for those groups and individuals targeted for genocide, to
identify their vulnerabilities, and to work with humanitarian and
faith-based organizations to address these needs. It seems that it is
more of a mindset than anything else that has resulted in the need for
this section.
Our representatives have met with U.S. and U.N. officials in Iraq
and in Washington to ask them all the same question: ``Why aren't the
communities that were victims of this genocide receiving public aid?''
The main answer has been that the current policy prioritizes
individual needs but does not consider the needs of vulnerable
communities--even when they have been targeted for genocide and risk
disappearing altogether.
But regardless of the reason, the outcome is the same. Such a
policy increases the likelihood that the complete eradication of these
groups from the region--which was the intent of the genocide--will
succeed.
We know that many Christian and Yazidi victims of genocide do not
receive public aid.
And here we have a fundamental inconsistency in the U.S. stance
toward the genocide.
On the one hand we have the unanimous policy of the elected
branches of the United States government stating that a genocide is
occurring. On the other hand we have an aid bureaucracy that is
allowing the intended consequence of the genocide to continue, even
though it is in our power to stop it.
Responding to a genocide requires a different approach.
Fortunately, the bureaucratic roadblocks are mainly cultural, not
statutory.
What the bureaucracy needs is an immediate change of mindset.
Legislation--or the threat of legislation--may be helpful in hastening
this, but even now, it does not have to be this way.
As this bill proceeds to a vote, our legislative and executive
representatives need to deliver to our diplomatic and aid entities a
clear and simple message:
In the midst of this genocide, saving Christian--and other
communities that face extinction--in Iraq and Syria is part of your
mission. There is nothing unconstitutional, illegal, unethical or
unprofessional about prioritizing their right to survival as
communities. They are innocent victims of a genocide. If these victim
communities are not receiving aid, you are not fulfilling your mission.
And such action is consistent with the best of American and U.S. State
Department tradition.
In fact, exactly a century ago, during and following World War I,
the United States government helped assist Christians in the region
with direct aid as they suffered what Pope Francis has called the first
genocide of the 20th century.
Chartered by an act of Congress, and recipient of more than $25
million in direct U.S. government ``supplies, services and cash,'' the
Near East Relief organization constituted a collaboration of the State
Department and American religious entities on the ground in the Middle
East. It is widely credited with having been key in saving religious
pluralism in the region during and following World War I. And I am
proud to say that the Knights of Columbus was among the groups that
supported this humanitarian effort in the 1920s. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Jay Winter, Ed. America and the Armenian Genocide 195 (2003)
at https:// books. google. com/ books? id=pnL SRX AXT fcC &lpg= PA198
&dq= near% 20east %20 relief %2025% 20million &pg =PP1 #v= onepage &q&f
=false.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The organization sought to save the Christian populations of Iran,
Iraq, Syria and Armenia from ``immediate and total destruction.'' \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Rev. Joseph Naayem, Shall This Nation Die? xvi (1921) at
https://books. google.com /books? id=hok GAQAAIAAJ& lpg= PR16& ots=
1wrLic UlSu &dq =%22 immediate %20and %20total %20destruction %22%20
mesopotamia &pg= PR3#v= onepage &q= %22immediate% 20and %20total
%20destruction %22%20 mesopotamia &f= false.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is no reason that such a prioritization and partnership--
assisted by direct government funding--could not exist today to save
Yazidis, Christians and other small vulnerable indigenous groups.
To be clear, we have had the assistance of many people who are
working within this system and are trying to help, and many officials
are advocating within their entities for a change in the status quo.
But they are often limited by a bureaucracy that is resistant to
initiative and resists change.
What is lacking may be legislation, but it is also leadership. With
this bill, Congress is providing leadership--and it is time for the aid
community to respond. If they do not, the officials from the State
Department, USAID, and their private partners that have not prioritized
aid to Christians and Yazidi communities need to continue to hear
directly from Congress and from the President and from the American
people that public aid needs to flow to these communities now.
Second, on the subject of aid I would like to reiterate that, in
addition to the funds provided in this bill, Congress should explore a
stand-alone emergency appropriations bill to respond to this genocide
in an even more direct and comprehensive manner.
It seems that few situations could be as worthy of such a measure
as the genocide Congress has declared unanimously to be ongoing.
My third point is that the aid we provide must be an investment in
a more peaceful future in the region. This cannot happen unless the
system of religious apartheid there ends. Christians and other
religious minorities are entitled to equal rights and the equal
protection of the laws as enumerated in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. 1A\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A, U.N.
GAOR, 3rd Sess., 1st plen. Mtg., U.N. Doc A/810 (Dec.12, 1948).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our tax dollars to governments in the region must not be used to
rebuild a discriminatory system that imposes second-class citizenship
upon religious minorities. U.S. aid for reconstruction, military and
other purposes should be contingent on the application of full and
equal rights of citizenship to every citizen of Iraq and other
countries in the region, as defined by the Universal Declaration.
This agenda demands from us a new approach to issues of human
rights in the region.
When we here speak of human rights, we are referencing those rights
enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. When
governments in Muslim-majority countries speak of human rights, they
may be thinking of those rights as defined--or as confined--by Sharia.
The interests of the region, and our own interests demand that we not
mislead ourselves or allow others to mislead us in this regard.
Our own laws, including the International Religious Freedom Act of
1998, \4\ recognize these realities, and require our government to act.
Christians in the region have a natural and universal right to practice
their faith freely and openly. They must receive protection from civil
authorities when they do so. They and other minorities must have
religious freedom. Without it, pluralism will certainly die, and with
it all hope for stability in the region. If civil authorities in the
region cannot supply this protection, they are not suitable partners
for aid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, 22 USCS
Sec. Sec. 6401-6481 (2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only with such policies will we be able to break the cycle of
persecution culminating in genocide which has afflicted these
communities for far too long, and which threatens international peace
and security.
Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for your leadership and that of
the members of this Commission.
M A T E R I A L F O R
T H E R E C O R D
=======================================================================
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
``Let Justice Be Served in Syria and Iraq''
By David Scheffer (Los Angeles Times, July 5, 2014)
Justice may appear to be the least likely survivor of the conflicts
in Syria and Iraq, but history teaches us that investigations and
prosecutions of atrocities like those sweeping through these nations
can still be achieved despite political obstacles.
Granted, justice stood still in the U.N. Security Council in late
May when Russia and China vetoed a resolution referring to the
International Criminal Court the atrocity crimes that have been tearing
Syria asunder since March 2011.
But the cruelty in Syria continues to mount. An estimated 160,000
citizens have died and half a million civilians have been wounded, with
tens of thousands constantly subjected to shelling and bombings. There
are countless torture victims, 2.5 million refugees crowded into
neighboring countries and 6.5 million internally displaced people.
In Iraq, the reported summary executions of an estimated 1,700
Iraqi soldiers in Tikrit by rebel forces known as the Islamic State,
formerly known as ISIS, and other alleged butchery of Iraqi citizens
presages the criminal terror descending there.
These numbers together far exceed those of atrocity crimes in
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the early 1990s. An international
criminal tribunal was created for that conflict long before the final
peace settlement. After more than three years of warfare in Syria and
that conflict's spillover into Iraq, the aim of achieving peace before
justice is bankrupt.
``Three tribunals were created to bring to justice perpetrators of
heinous crimes committed in Sierra Leone, Lebanon and
Cambodia.''
Referral of Syria and Iraq to the International Criminal Court
remains preferable, but given that it's unlikely, there are at least
three other options. The obvious one, for Syria, is to wait until that
nation's political and judicial systems coexist in a democratic society
administering fair and equal justice. Experts, including free-minded
Syrians, envision such a domestic tribunal, but that day seems
increasingly distant following the collapse of the U.N.-brokered peace
talks and the staying power of Bashar Assad's autocratic government.
The country itself may break apart, as might Iraq, which is too fragile
now to hold credible trials.
The second option could be a regional criminal court created by the
Arab League, as proposed earlier this year. While attractive, the Arab
League approach failed to gain traction.
The third option, proposed here, would require a treaty between the
United Nations (acting by General Assembly vote) and a government
committed to justice for the victims of these two conflicts.
Neighborhood candidates such as Turkey, Jordan and even Lebanon or
European nations such as France and Italy come to mind.
The integrity of such an initiative would rest on the United
Nations holding firm for an independent court in the negotiations. Any
such participating government--in union with the U.N.--essentially
would be intervening judicially in Syria and Iraq by establishing an
``Extraordinary Tribunal for Syria and Iraq.'' This year, 58
governments petitioned the Security Council for judicial action on
Syria, so there already is strong support.
There also is precedent for such action. Three tribunals were
created to bring to justice perpetrators of heinous crimes committed in
Sierra Leone, Lebanon and Cambodia.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone, which recently fulfilled its
mandate to prosecute crimes committed during its civil war in the
1990s, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague, focusing on
the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, are
international courts created under negotiated treaties between the
United Nations and Sierra Leone and Lebanon, respectively.
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia is a national
court situated in Phnom Penh and governed by a U.N.-Cambodia treaty to
prosecute the atrocity crimes of the Pol Pot regime. It has
international judges, prosecutors and administrators appointed by the
U.N. secretary-general, foreign defense counsel and rules employing
international law. All three tribunals have received most of their
funding voluntarily from foreign governments, including the United
States.
The Lebanon tribunal permits trials in absentia because Lebanese
law permits such trials. The first prosecution underway in absentia
concerns five Hezbollah defendants who remain indicted fugitives.
After World War II, the Nuremberg tribunal, which permitted in
absentia prosecutions, tried and convicted Martin Bormann, a top Nazi
official, who has never been captured.
The likely suspects in the atrocity crimes scarring Syria and
recently Iraq will resist arrest for years, if not indefinitely. So a
practical way forward would be for the U.N. to partner with a
government that already embraces in absentia trials under its domestic
law. Many European and Arab nations hold such trials (as do Syrian and
Iraqi courts), so this would not be a novel procedure.
By ratifying and implementing such a treaty, the participating
government would consent to the extraterritorial reach of its own law
over the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. The tribunal could be established
in the treaty nation or perhaps in The Hague. Faced with international
crimes of such magnitude, and threats to regional security, such a
government could justify its actions as protecting its national
interest and applying conditional universal jurisdiction.
Formal consent from either Syria or Iraq is unlikely, so that would
distinguish this effort from the three earlier examples, in which the
crime scene governments were the treaty partners with the U.N. But that
should not prevent an international effort to achieve justice. The U.N.
secretary-general could be tasked to select tribunal personnel from
among distinguished global jurists.
Such a tribunal would send a powerful signal that atrocity crimes
will not be ignored; indeed, they will be prosecuted and punished, even
though the practical penalty may be the ever-present risk of arrest. If
an indicted fugitive convicted in absentia one day surrenders or is
captured and brought to trial before the tribunal, then he or she would
enjoy all due process rights.
The Extraordinary Tribunal on Syria and Iraq would be tough to
negotiate, but so too were its predecessors. Ultimately, justice can
and must prevail.
David Scheffer is a law professor at Northwestern University and a
former U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes issues. He is the author
of ``All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes
Tribunals.''
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
This is an official publication of the
Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.
***
This publication is intended to document
developments and trends in participating
States of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
***
All Commission publications may be freely
reproduced, in any form, with appropriate
credit. The Commission encourages
the widest possible dissemination
of its publications.
***
http://www.csce.gov @HelsinkiComm
The Commission's Web site provides
access to the latest press releases
and reports, as well as hearings and
briefings. Using the Commission's electronic
subscription service, readers are able
to receive press releases, articles,
and other materials by topic or countries
of particular interest.
Please subscribe today.