#aadth ,,congress  #ast ,session  ,s4   
#gef  ,,an ,,act  ,to require a report  
on accountability for war crimes and    
crimes against humanity in ,syria4  #a4 
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,syrian ,war ,crimes ,accountability
 ,act of #bjae4  #b4 ,findings ,congress
 makes the following findings3 7#a7     
,march #bjae marks the fourth year of   
the ongoing conflict in ,syria4  7#b7   
,on ,december #ag1 #bjad1 the ,united   
,nations ,security ,council unanimously 
adopted ,resolution #baia expressing    
outrage at the unacceptable and         
escalating level of violence and the    
killing of more than #aia1jjj people1   
including well over #aj1jjj children and
 approximately #a1jjj1jjj injured in    
,syria4  7#c7 ,more than half of        
,syria's population is displaced as of  
,march #bjae1 with more than #g1fjj1jjj 
internally displaced and more than      
#c1gjj1jjj refugees in neighboring      
countries4  7#d7 ,on ,february #ai1     
#bjae1 ,united ,nations                 

,secretary-,general ,ban ,ki-moon       
reported to the ,security ,council that 
parties to the conflict are failing to  
live up to their international legal    
obligations to protect civilians and    
called for action to ensure the         
unfettered delivery of humanitarian     
relief1 an end to the use of denial of  
services as a weapon of war1 and a      
response to the relentless and          
indiscriminate attacks on civilians1    
including through the use of barrel     
bombs4  7#e7 ,on ,february #bg1 #bjad1  
the ,department of ,state issued its    
#bjac ,human ,rights ,report on ,syria1 
which described ,president ,bashar al   
,assad's use of indiscriminate and      
deadly force in the conflict1 including 
the ,august #ba1 #bjac1 use of sarin gas
 and artillery to target ,east ,ghouta  
and ,moadamiya al-,sham1 suburbs of     
,damascus1 which killed over #a1jjj     
people4  7#f7 ,the #bjad ,united ,states
 ,commission on ,international          
,religious ,freedom ,annual ,report     

states that in ,syria terrorist         
organizations espouse violence and the  
creation of an ,islamic state with no   
space for religious diversity and have  
carried out religiously-motivated       
attacks and massacres against ,alawite1 
,shi'a and ,christian civilians4  7#g7  
,on ,february #d1 #bjae1 the ,executive 
,council of the ,organization for the   
,prohibition of ,chemical ,weapons      
7,,opcw7 adopted a decision expressing  
serious concern about the findings with 
a high degree of confidence of an ,,opcw
 fact-finding mission that chlorine had 
been used as a weapon in some areas of  
,syria in #bjad and calling for those   
individuals responsible to be held      
accountable4  7#h7 ,the ,united ,nations
 ,independent ,international ,commission
 of ,inquiry on the ,syrian ,arab       
,republic reports that pro-government   
forces have conducted attacks on ,syrian
 civilian populations1 and have utilized
 murder1 torture1 assault1 and rape as  
war tactics4 ,anti-government groups    

have also committed murder and torture1 
engaged in hostage-taking1 attacked     
protected objects1 and shelled civilian 
neighborhoods4 ,the ,commission's       
,february #bjae report states that      
,syria's civil war has been             
characterized by massive1 recurrent     
violations of human rights and          
international humanitarian law that     
demand urgent international and national
 action4  7#i7 ,on ,march #ab1 #bjae1   
,physicians for ,human ,rights 7,,phr7  
reported that since #bjaa1 at least #faj
 medical personnel have been killed and 
there have been #bcc deliberate or      
indiscriminate attacks on #ahc medical  
facilities in ,syria4 ,the ,physicians  
for ,human ,rights report cited evidence
 that the ,government of ,syria         
committed #hh percent of the recorded   
hospital attacks and #ig percent of     
medical personnel killings1 and has     
targeted health care and increasingly   
used it as a weapon of war to destroy   
its opponents by preventing care1       

killing thousands of civilians along the
 way4  7#aj7 ,internationally accepted  
rules of war require actors to          
distinguish between civilians and       
combatants and that all parties are     
obligated to respect and protect the    
wounded and sick and to take care all   
reasonable measures to provide safe and 
prompt access for the wounded and sick  
to medical care4  #c4 ,sense of         
,congress ,congress-- 7#a7 strongly     
condemns the ongoing violence1 use of   
chemical weapons1 targeting of civilian 
populations with barrel1 incendiary1 and
 cluster bombs and ,,scud missiles1 and 
systematic gross human rights violations
 carried out by ,government of ,syria   
and pro-government forces under the     
direction of ,president ,bashar         
al-,assad1 as well as all abuses        
committed by violent extremist groups   
and other combatants involved in the    
civil war in ,syria2  7#b7 expresses its
 support for the people of ,syria       
seeking democratic change2  7#c7 urges  

all parties to the conflict to          
immediately halt indiscriminate attacks 
on civilians1 allow for the delivery of 
humanitarian and medical assistance1 and
 end sieges of civilian populations2    
7#d7 calls on the ,president to support 
efforts in ,syria and on the part of the
 international community to ensure      
accountability for war crimes and crimes
 against humanity committed during the  
conflict2 and  7#e7 supports the        
requirement in ,united ,nations         
,security ,council ,resolutions #baia1  
#bafe and #baci for regular reporting by
 the ,secretary-,general on             
implementation on the resolutions1      
including of paragraph #b of resolution 
#baci1 which demands that all parties   
desist from violations of international 
humanitarian law and violations and     
abuses of human rights and calls on the 
,security ,council to establish a       
committee to investigate past and       
ongoing gross violations of human rights
 and war crimes in the ,syrian conflict4

  #d4 ,report on accountability for war 
crimes and crimes against humanity in   
,syria  7a7 ,in general ,not later than 
#ij days after the date of the enactment
 of this ,act1 and again not later than 
#ahj days after the cessation of        
violence in ,syria1 the ,secretary of   
,state shall submit to the appropriate  
congressional committees a report on war
 crimes and crimes against humanity in  
,syria4  7b7 ,elements ,the report      
required under subsection 7a7 shall     
include the following elements3 7#a7 ,a 
description of violations of            
internationally recognized human rights1
 war crimes1 and crimes against humanity
 perpetrated during the civil war in    
,syria1 including--  7,a7 an account of 
incidents that may constitute war crimes
 and crimes against humanity committed  
by the regime of ,president ,bashar     
al-,assad and all forces fighting on its
 behalf2  7,b7 an account of incidents  
that may constitute war crimes and      
crimes against humanity committed by    

violent extremist groups1               
anti-government forces1 and any other   
combatants in the conflict2  7,c7 a     
description of any incidents that may   
violate the principle of medical        
neutrality and1 when possible1 an       
identification of the individual or     
individuals who engaged in or organized 
such violations2 and  7,d7 where        
possible1 a description of the          
conventional and unconventional weapons 
used for such crimes and1 the origins of
 the weapons4  7#b7 ,a description of   
efforts by the ,department of ,state and
 the ,united ,states ,agency for        
,international ,development to ensure   
accountability for violations of        
internationally recognized human rights1
 international humanitarian law1 and    
crimes against humanity perpetrated     
against the people of ,syria by the     
regime of ,president ,bashar al-,assad1 
violent extremist groups1 and other     
combatants involved in the conflict1    
including--  7,a7 a description of      

initiatives that the ,united ,states    
,government has undertaken to train     
investigators in ,syria on how to       
document1 investigate1 and develop      
findings of war crimes1 including the   
number of ,united ,states ,government or
 contract personnel currently designated
 to work full-time on these issues and  
an identification of the authorities and
 appropriations being used to support   
training efforts2  7,b7 a description   
and assessment of ,syrian and           
international efforts to ensure         
accountability for crimes committed     
during the ,syrian conflict1 including  
efforts to promote a transitional       
justice process that would include      
criminal accountability and the         
establishment of an ad hoc tribunal to  
prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes
 committed during the civil war in      
,syria2 and  7,c7 an assessment of the  
influence of accountability measures on 
efforts to reach a negotiated settlement
 to the conflict during the reporting   

period4  7c7 ,form ,the report required 
under subsection 7a7 may be in          
unclassified or classified form1 but    
shall include a publicly available      
annex4  7d7 ,appropriate congressional  
committee defined ,in this section1 the 
term appropriate congressional          
committees means-- 7#a7 the ,committee  
on ,foreign ,relations of the ,senate2  
and  7#b7 the ,committee on ,foreign    
,affairs of the ,house of               
,representatives4  ,passed the ,senate  
,july #ad1 #bjae4,secretary