[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 50 (Thursday, March 22, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3603-S3605]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GENOCIDE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2007
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to speak about S. 888, the Genocide
Accountability Act. It is a bipartisan bill I have introduced with
Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and
Senator John Cornyn of Texas.
This Genocide Accountability Act is the first legislation produced by
the Judiciary Committee's new Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law,
which I chair and Senator Coburn serves as ranking member.
I wish to thank organizations that have endorsed this act, including
Africa Action, the American Jewish World Service, Amnesty International
USA, the Armenian Assembly of America, the Armenian National Committee
of America, the Genocide Intervention Network, Human Rights First,
Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, Refugees
International, and the Save Darfur Coalition.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record
a letter from the organizations I have just mentioned supporting this
legislation.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
March 15, 2007.
Hon. Richard J. Durbin,
Hon. Tom Coburn,
Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, Senate Committee on
the Judiciary, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Coburn: We write to
express our strong support for the Genocide Accountability
Act. We believe this legislation, a product of the
Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law's inaugural hearing
on genocide, is necessary in order to enable the United
States to lead the world in bringing perpetrators of the most
serious human rights crimes to justice. We look forward to
its swift enactment into law.
Winston Churchill once remarked that the extermination of
Jews in Europe was ``a crime without a name.'' That inspired
Raphael Lemkin to name it, and he then devoted his life to
codifying the crime of genocide in international law.
Lemkin's work culminated in the United Nations Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The
most serious human rights crime had a name, but since 1988,
when the United States formally ratified the treaty, genocide
has been a crime under U.S. law only in the narrowest of
circumstances.
The Genocide Implementation Act (18 U.S.C. 1091), enacted
in 1987 as a prerequisite to the United States becoming a
party to the Genocide Convention, provides jurisdiction over
the crime of genocide only in circumstances where the
perpetrator is a U.S. citizen or the crime took place in the
United States. Since the time that law was enacted, the
world's pledge that it would ``never again'' tolerate mass
slaughter has been mocked again and again--in Bosnia, in
Rwanda and now in Darfur. As the violence in Darfur rages
into its fifth year, the United States must do all it can to
deter those who act with seeming impunity, including by
removing any barriers to prosecution in this country of those
responsible for genocide.
The Genocide Accountability Act would accomplish this by
enabling the Department of Justice to prosecute foreign
nationals suspected of genocide who are present in the United
States. This is not merely a theoretical concern. The Justice
Department has already identified individuals who may have
participated in the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides and are
currently living in the United States under false pretenses,
but current law fails to provide jurisdiction to charge them
with that crime.
Like the pirate and the slave trader, perpetrators of
genocide are rightly considered to be the enemies of all
mankind. The United States must not remain passive when those
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suspected of genocide enter or are found in its territory. By
eliminating barriers to prosecution, as the United States has
done in the cases of hostage-taking, torture, and other
serious crimes, the Genocide Accountability Act will ensure
that perpetrators of genocide do not evade accountability
when they are present in the United States. We welcome its
introduction and strongly urge its enactment into law.
Sincerely,
Africa Action, American Jewish World Service, Amnesty
International USA, Arab American Institute, Armenian
National Committee of America, Center for American
Progress Action Fund, Genocide Intervention Network,
Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Open Society
Policy Center, Physicians for Human Rights, Refugees
International, Save Darfur Coalition.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Leahy for allowing the
creation of this new subcommittee in Judiciary that is known as Human
Rights and the Law. It is the first time in the 218-year history of the
Senate such a committee has been designated, and I am honored to serve
as its chair.
After our first hearing on genocide in Darfur, we decided it was time
to close the legal loopholes that prevent the U.S. Justice Department
from prosecuting people in our country who have committed genocide.
This legislation is a result of our first hearing. We heard about these
gaps in the law and found them hard to believe. Unlike the laws of
torture, piracy, material support for terrorism, terrorism financing,
hostage taking, and many other Federal crimes, laws related to genocide
do not allow the arrest and prosecution in the United States of people
who are not U.S. citizens, or who have not committed the act of
genocide in our Nation. Of course, those are few and far between. There
is no reason to treat genocide, perhaps the worst crime known to
humanity, differently than any of these crimes.
During the Human Rights Subcommittee's hearings, we heard from Romeo
Dallaire. He is now a member of the Canadian Senate, and he was the
general in charge of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Rwanda in 1994. He
tried desperately to stop that genocide, and many people refused to
even listen. Two notable exceptions were former colleagues in the
Senate: my predecessor, Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, and a man whom
I respect very much and recently retired, Senator Jim Jeffords of
Vermont. They appealed to the Clinton administration to send troops
into Rwanda--just a small force to stop the massacre--but sadly, the
administration did not respond. President Clinton has said it was the
worst mistake of his administration. His candor and honesty are
appreciated, but we should learn from that mistake.
Despite all of the world's solemn promises, today in Darfur, in
western Sudan, another genocide rages. In a region of 6 million people,
hundreds of thousands have been killed, and over 2 million people have
been displaced. For them, the commitment of ``never again'' rings very
hollow. Earlier this month, Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir
sent a letter to the U.N. Secretary General rejecting the core elements
of the plan to send U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur. Bashir claimed that
U.N. and African peacekeeping forces have no authority to protect
civilians in his country, saying Sudan bears the primary
responsibility.
Four years into the genocide, the claim that the Khartoum regime will
protect civilians in Darfur is not only implausible, it is offensive.
President Bashir has thumbed his nose at the international community.
The question is: How will we respond, once having declared a genocide?
Last week a U.N. human rights team reporting on Darfur called for
U.N. Security Council intervention, tougher sanctions, and criminal
prosecution of guilty parties. They also called for the international
community's response to the genocide in Darfur immediately.
The U.N. human rights team is led by Jody Williams, a genuine
American hero who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to ban
landmines. Upon completing her investigation of Darfur, Ms. Williams
had a message for the international community. She said:
If you're not prepared to act on what you say, don't say
it.
Jody Williams is right. We have to do more than just talk about
genocide in Darfur. Today, joined by Senator Sam Brownback, a
Republican of Kansas, and 30 of my colleagues, I sent a letter to the
President urging him to put the question of meaningful multilateral
sanctions to a vote before the U.N. Security Council. We have been told
in the past that one of the permanent members of this council may veto
the resolution. I say: So be it. Let that nation stand up in front of
the world and say they are going to veto this effort to stop this mass
murder.
We recognize there are political risks to advancing this strategy,
but it is time to weigh those risks against the damage that is being
done and the verdict of history. It is our moral obligation to do
everything we can to stop this genocide in Darfur.
Another important step is to make clear the commitment of the United
States to hold accountable those who are guilty of this ultimate crime.
It is hard to imagine that individuals in the Sudanese Government whom
we have identified as being involved in genocide have come to the
United States and have been treated as visiting dignitaries, and have
traveled with impunity around our Nation. It is hard to imagine we
would turn our back on the fact of what they have done in their own
home country.
I am pleased the International Criminal Court is moving forward with
this investigation into the Darfur genocide, but that does not excuse
the United States from its obligation to prosecute war criminals who
seek safe haven or even travel in the United States.
It is not just Darfur. The Justice Department has identified
individuals who participated in the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides
living now in the United States under false pretenses. How can we let
the United States be a safe haven for those who are guilty of genocide
around the world? The fact is the law is on their side. American law
doesn't give us the authority to arrest and prosecute these
individuals, and that is why I have introduced this legislation, to
change the law and let them know they can no longer seek a safe haven
in the United States.
The Genocide Accountability Act says if you commit genocide anywhere
in the world and come to the United States, America will hold you
accountable under the law. This is the first legislation produced by
the Human Rights Subcommittee. There will be more bills to follow. But
I doubt the subcommittee or any other committee in Congress will face
another issue as compelling as this genocide in Darfur.
In 1862, 1 month before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation,
President Abraham Lincoln sent a message to Congress proposing to end
slavery. His words reach us even today when he said:
We--even we here--hold the power and bear the
responsibility.
Those words remain true. We here, even now, hold the power and bear
the responsibility to do all we can to stop this genocide. Enacting the
Genocide Accountability Act is an important step to ending impunity for
perpetrators of genocide.
Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I
ask unanimous consent that the letter which was sent to the President
be printed in the Record.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, March 22, 2007.
The President,
The White House,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. President: We write to you as Members of Congress
who are deeply concerned about the ongoing genocide in Darfur
and equally frustrated by the inability or unwillingness of
the international community to put a halt to it. Last August,
the United Nations Security Council passed UNSC Resolution
1706, which expanded the mandate of the United Nations
Mission in Sudan to include Darfur and stated that over
20,000 military and civilian police personnel were to be
deployed as peacekeepers in the region. Over six months have
passed and fewer than 200 UN personnel have been deployed
because of the Sudanese government's refusal to comply with
what the Security Council has authorized.
History demonstrates that Sudan's leadership does not
respond to this type of request. We believe that it is time
for the Security Council to enact a new resolution, imposing
multilateral economic sanctions on the Sudanese government
and targeted sanctions on individuals named by the UN
Commission of inquiry as being responsible for crimes against
humanity.
We recognize that previous U.S.-led efforts to move
stronger resolutions at the Security
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Council have been deterred by the threat of a veto by one or
more of the Permanent Members. We frankly urge you to
introduce and push for a vote on a resolution imposing
multilateral sanctions regardless. Let a country stand before
the community of nations and announce that it is vetoing the
best effort we can muster to build the leverage necessary to
end ongoing mass murder.
There are political risks to advancing this strategy, but
we urge you to weigh those risks against the verdict of
history if we fail to try. If the Security Council does not
act, the United States should engage with our allies to
create a coalition that will impose economic penalties on the
Sudanese government. The United States has already
implemented a number of unilateral sanctions, and we
understand that you are considering still more, a development
that we would applaud. However. the real key to changing
Khartoum's behavior most likely lies in multilateral
sanctions, especially those aimed at the Sudanese oil
industry.
We encourage you to put this matter before the United
Nations Security Council as soon as possible. A threatened
veto should not silence us.
We know that you share our commitment to this issue and we
commend your courage in recognizing this genocide for what it
is. We look forward to continuing our efforts until a timely
solution to the crisis in Darfur is found.
Sincerely,
Dick Durbin, Joe Biden, Carl Levin, Russell D. Feingold,
Bill Nelson, Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, Sam
Brownback, John E. Sununu, Mel Martinez, Jack Reed, Tom
Harkin, Barbara A. Mikulski, Barack Obama, Robert
Menendez, Dianne Feinstein, John Cornyn, Susan Collins,
Wayne Allard, Mark Pryor, Richard Burr, Sherrod Brown,
Olympia Snowe, Frank R. Lautenberg, Amy Klobuchar, Mike
Crapo, Maria Cantwell, Elizabeth Dole, Patty Murray,
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chris Dodd, Jim Webb, John F.
Kerry, Pat Roberts.
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