,i #aagth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #gfba ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,april #bh1 #bjbb,mr4 ,crow 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,jacobs of ,california1 ,mr4 ,malinowski1 and ,mr4 ,khanna7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services ,a ,,bill ,to amend title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 to establish in the ,department of ,defense a civilian harm investigation coordinator1 to improve and make permanent the requirement that the ,secretary of ,defense submit an annual report on civilian harm in connection with ,united ,states military operations1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,department of ,defense ,civilian ,harm ,transparency ,act4 #b4 ,annual report on civilian harm in connection with ,united ,states military operations 7a7 ,in general ,chapter #bc of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by inserting after section #dhf the following new section3 #dhg4 ,civilian harm in connection with ,united ,states military operations4 7a7 ,coordinator ,the ,secretary of ,defense shall-- 7#a7 designate a senior official within the ,office of the ,secretary of ,defense to serve as the civilian harm investigation coordinator2 and 7#b7 appoint a general counsel to assist the coordinator in carrying out the responsibilities under subsection 7b74 7b7 ,responsibilities ,the coordinator designated under subsection 7a7 shall carry out the following responsibilities3 7#a7 ,in the case of each investigation of civilian harm1 conducting a review of the investigation and an assessment of whether applicable laws1 policies1 guidelines1 and processes were followed in conducting the investigations4 7#b7 ,certifying each annual report submitted under subsection 7c74 7c7 ,annual report required 7#a7 ,not later than ,may #a each year1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on civilian harm resulting from ,united ,states military operations during the preceding year4 7#b7 ,each report required under paragraph 7#a7 shall set forth the following3 7,a7 ,a list of all the ,united ,states military operations conducted during the year covered by the report as a result of which-- 7i7 an incident of civilian harm is confirmed or reasonably suspected to have occurred2 or 7ii7 an incident of civilian harm is alleged to have occurred and for which an investigation into such incident remains open as of the date of the submittal of the report4 7,b7 ,for each military operation listed under subparagraph 7,a71 each of the following3 7i7 ,the date and time4 7ii7 ,the location1 including the precise geographic coordinates of any strike occurring as a result of the conduct of the operation4 7iii7 ,an identification of whether the operation occurred inside or outside of a declared theater of active armed conflict and a definition of the term theater of active armed conflict4 7iv7 ,the type of operation1 including for each strike conducted as part of the operation-- 7,i7 a description of whether the strike was deliberate or dynamic2 7,,ii7 the ,department's legal and policy justification for the strike1 including an explanation of each such justification under domestic law and applicable international law2 7,,iii7 the relevant rules and procedures in place to prevent civilian casualties or significant damage to civilian objects1 and whether those rules and procedures were followed2 and 7,,iv7 a description of the type of weapons and ordnance used1 including whether there was any weapon malfunction4 7v7 ,an assessment of the estimated number of civilians1 civilians directly participating in hostilities1 and belligerents killed and injured during the operation1 formulated as a range1 if necessary1 and including-- 7,i7 details on the number of men1 women1 and children involved and the estimated ages of such civilians1 civilians directly participating in hostilities1 and belligerents2 and 7,,ii7 an explanation of-- 7aa7 how the ,department of ,defense determined whether targets were civilians1 civilians directly participating in hostilities1 and belligerents2 7bb7 the ,department's legal criteria for considering a person to be a civilian1 civilian directly participating in hostilities1 or a belligerent2 and 7cc7 the level of epistemic certainty required to make such determination4 7vi7 ,for each strike carried out as part of the operation-- 7,i7 an assessment of whether post-strike civilian harm exceeded pre-strike assessments of anticipated harm and1 if so1 the reasons for this discrepancy2 7,,ii7 an assessment of whether civilian harm resulted from misidentification of a military objective or the collateral effects of engagement2 7,,iii7 an assessment of damage to civilian objects that would ordinarily be placed on a no-strike list1 and an explanation if any such object was removed from the list2 and 7,,iv7 a general assessment of reliability of information provided and how such reliability level was determined4 7vii7 ,a summary for all completed civilian harm assessments and investigations4 7viii7 ,for any investigation into an incident that has been open for more than #ahj days1 an update on the status of the investigation in the report table4 7ix7 ,in the case of any incident where the ,secretary determines that credible civilian harm occurred-- 7,i7 an assessment of whether the ,department has publicly acknowledged the civilian harm or instituted any procedural reforms2 7,,ii7 a description of any other non-monetary consequence management that has occurred1 including the provision of medical care1 visa assistance1 private apologies or explanations1 or public affairs statements2 and 7,,iii7 an analysis on the effectiveness of the ,department of ,defense response4 7x7 ,for each investigation into an incident of civilian harm or alleged civilian harm-- 7,i7 whether witness interviews and site visits occurred1 and if not1 an explanation for why not2 7,,ii7 whether civil society documentation or investigations were taken into account in making a final determination in the investigation1 and if not1 an explanation for why not2 and 7,,iii7 if an incident of alleged civilian harm is deemed not credible1 an explanation of the standard and methodology for making that determination4 7,c7 ,a description of the process by which the ,department of ,defense investigates allegations of civilian casualties resulting from ,united ,states military operations1 including all standards and guidelines applicable to such investigations1 the procedures for conducting and reviewing such investigations1 the procedures for reviewing external sources of information1 the criteria for deeming information credible1 and the entities responsible for conducting and reviewing such investigations4 7,d7 ,a description of steps taken to mitigate harm to civilians in the course of conducting such operations1 including any new or updated civilian harm policies and procedures implemented by the ,department of ,defense or the combatant commands4 7,e7 ,an assessment of how ,united ,states military operations affected or exacerbated humanitarian needs of civilian populations in each theater of military operations4 7,f7 ,for each incident of civilian harm where at least simple negligence was determined to play a contributory role-- 7i7 a description of any remedial personnel action taken1 including administrative1 disciplinary1 or punitive2 or 7ii7 if no disciplinary action was taken1 an explanation of why not4 7,g7 ,a description of any changes to policies1 rules1 or procedures as a result of such an incident4 7,h7 ,any other matter the ,secretary of ,defense determines is appropriate4 7#c7 ,in preparing a report under this subsection1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall take into account relevant and credible all-source reporting1 with a special emphasis on information from public reports and non-governmental sources4 7#d7 ,each report required under paragraph 7#a7 shall be-- 7,a7 submitted in unclassified form1 but may include a classified annex2 and 7,b7 redacted only as necessary to protect legitimately classified information and then made publicly available in a databased and searchable format that includes a table with hyperlinks to individual incidents4 7d7 ,ex gratia and condolence payments 7#a7 ,not less frequently than once each calendar quarter1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall make publicly available in an electronic format-- 7,a7 a detailed list of all ex gratia payments and any other payments in response to civilian harm paid by the ,united ,states during that quarter1 including for each payment1 the country where the payment was issued and the type of payment2 and 7,b7 with respect to a calendar quarter in which no ex gratia or other payments were made in response to civilian harm1 an explanation of whether any payments were refused along with the reason for such refusal1 and any other reason for which no payments were made4 7#b7 ,information about specific payments required under paragraph 7#a7 that must be kept confidential to ensure the safety or privacy of payment recipients1 based on consultation with such recipients1 may be excluded from the publicly available list if the ,secretary of ,defense-- 7,a7 provides such information to the congressional defense committees in a confidential annex2 7,b7 submits to such committees a certification of the need for confidentiality2 and 7,c7 makes such information publicly available in an aggregated format4 7#c7 ,the ,secretary of ,defense shall make available an easily accessible electronic method by which individuals or others on their behalf may request ex gratia or other condolence payments4 4 7b7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section #dhf the following new item3 #dhg4 ,annual report on civilian harm in connection with ,united ,states military operations4 4 7c7 ,conforming repeal ,section #ajeg of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjah 7,public ,law #aae-ia7 is repealed4