[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 166 (Monday, November 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S7862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 310--CONDEMNING THE ONGOING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST 
 WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM YEZIDI, CHRISTIAN, SHABAK, TURKMEN, AND OTHER 
RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES BY ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND SYRIA MILITANTS AND 
URGING THE PROSECUTION OF THE PERPETRATORS AND THOSE COMPLICIT IN THESE 
                                 CRIMES

  Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Rubio, Ms. Ayotte, and Mr. 
Kirk) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 310

       Whereas the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has 
     publicly and systematically targeted communities on the basis 
     of their religious identities, including Yezidis, Christians, 
     Shi'a Muslims, Shabaks, Turkmens, and Kaka'i, in a campaign 
     of violence that includes summary executions, beheadings, 
     torture, arbitrary detainment, forced displacement, rape and 
     sexual violence, and enslavement;
       Whereas enslavement and sexual violence against women is a 
     widespread practice among ISIS militants, who have, according 
     to the Yezidi Affairs Directory, captured and enslaved as 
     many as 5,500 Yezidis, including as many as 3,000 women, 
     since August 2014;
       Whereas ISIS has established a formal slave trade in which 
     women and girls as young as 5 years old are systematically 
     abducted, transported, categorized according to physical 
     traits and perceived value, and traded among ISIS militants 
     or sold for as little as $10;
       Whereas the Research and Fatwa Department of ISIS has 
     issued guidelines and directions for the enslavement of 
     Yezidi women and children and has justified the actions on 
     the basis of religious teachings;
       Whereas the New York Times reported that ``the Islamic 
     State has developed a detailed bureaucracy of sex slavery, 
     including sales contracts notarized by the ISIS-run Islamic 
     courts'';
       Whereas, according to various reports, including testimony 
     before Congress by Khidher Domle, a Yezidi activist and 
     Director of the Media Department at the University of Dohuk, 
     the enslavement and sexual violence used against Yezidi women 
     and children by ISIS militants in their attack on Mount 
     Sinjar was premeditated;
       Whereas ISIS has initiated the mass killing of Yezidi men 
     and boys, the sexual violence and enslavement of Yezidi women 
     and children, and the forced displacement of Christians and 
     other religious communities;
       Whereas the threat and reach of ISIS extends beyond Iraq 
     and Syria into the rest of the world, as demonstrated by 
     ISIS-affiliated attacks and recruitment of foreign fighters 
     from the United States, Europe, Central Asia, and Africa;
       Whereas, according to testimony presented before the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
     on September 29, 2015, it is possible that one of the ISIS 
     militants involved in the sexual slavery of Yezidi women and 
     children is a United States citizen; and
       Whereas the United States Government should investigate and 
     urge prosecution of American citizens who are perpetrators of 
     or complicit in such crimes: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the ongoing sexual violence against women and 
     children from Yezidi, Christian, Shabak, Turkmen, and other 
     religious communities;
       (2) calls on the Attorney General to commence the 
     investigation and prosecution of any United States citizens 
     alleged to be perpetrators of or complicit in these crimes 
     and to report back to Congress what steps are being taken to 
     investigate and urge the prosecution of those involved; and
       (3) calls on the Government of Iraq and the governments of 
     other countries to identify individual perpetrators and 
     individuals involved in these crimes and take appropriate 
     measures to arrest and urge the prosecution of those 
     individuals.

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