I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5880 To provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to foreign countries that are in violation of international human rights law or international humanitarian law, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 12, 2020 Ms. OMAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Intelligence (Permanent Select), and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to foreign countries that are in violation of international human rights law or international humanitarian law, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Arming Human 4 Rights Abusers Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5880 IH TITLE I—SANCTIONS WITH RE- 1 SPECT TO FOREIGN COUN- 2 TRIES THAT ARE IN VIOLA- 3 TION OF INTERNATIONAL 4 HUMAN RIGHTS LAW OR 5 INTERNATIONAL HUMANI- 6 TARIAN LAW 7 SEC. 101. DETERMINATION OF VIOLATIONS OF INTER- 8 NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW OR INTER- 9 NATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 11 sanctions described in section 102 with respect to the gov- 12 ernment of a foreign country if the President determines 13 that such government has committed any of the acts de- 14 scribed in subsection (b), (c), or (d). 15 (b) GENOCIDE.—Any acts committed with intent to 16 destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, 17 or religious group, including the following: 18 (1) Killing members of the group. 19 (2) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to 20 members of the group. 21 (3) Deliberately inflicting on the group condi- 22 tions of life calculated to bring about its physical de- 23 struction in whole or in part. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5880 IH (4) Imposing measures intended to prevent 1 births within the group. 2 (5) Forcibly transferring children of the group 3 to another group. 4 (c) CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any of the following acts 6 when committed as part of a widespread or system- 7 atic attack directed against any civilian population: 8 (A) Murder. 9 (B) Extermination. 10 (C) Enslavement, including sexual slavery. 11 (D) Deportation or forcible transfer of 12 population. 13 (E) Imprisonment or other severe depriva- 14 tion of physical liberty in violation of funda- 15 mental rules of international law. 16 (F) Torture. 17 (G) Rape, enforced prostitution, forced 18 pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other 19 form of sexual violence of comparable gravity. 20 (H) Persecution against any identifiable 21 group or collectivity on political, racial, na- 22 tional, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, lan- 23 guage, social origin, age, disability, health, sex- 24 ual orientation, gender identity, sex characteris- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5880 IH tics, indigenous, refugee, statelessness, or mi- 1 gration status, or other grounds that are recog- 2 nized as impermissible under international law. 3 (I) Enforced disappearance of persons. 4 (J) The crime of apartheid. 5 (K) Other inhumane acts of a similar char- 6 acter intentionally causing great suffering, or 7 serious injury to body or to mental or physical 8 health, including the excessive use of anti-riot 9 materials including tear gas, rubber bullets, 10 sound cannons, and other nonlethal materials to 11 disperse nonviolent protests. 12 (2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 13 (A) the term ‘‘attack directed against any 14 civilian population’’ means a course of conduct 15 involving the multiple commission of acts re- 16 ferred to in this subsection against any civilian 17 population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a 18 state or organizational policy to commit such 19 attack; 20 (B) the term ‘‘extermination’’ includes the 21 intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter 22 alia the deprivation of access to food and medi- 23 cine, calculated to bring about the destruction 24 of part of a population; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5880 IH (C) the term ‘‘enslavement’’ includes— 1 (i) slavery, which means the exercise 2 of any or all of the powers attaching to the 3 right of ownership over a person including 4 but not limited to the exercise of powers of 5 ownership over sexual autonomy or integ- 6 rity; 7 (ii) the slave trade, which means all 8 acts involved in the capture, acquisition or 9 disposal of a person with intent to reduce 10 the person to slavery; 11 (iii) all acts involved in the acquisition 12 of a slave with a view to selling or ex- 13 changing the slave; 14 (iv) all acts of disposal by sale or ex- 15 change of a slave acquired with a view to 16 being sold or exchanged; and 17 (v) in general, every act of trade or 18 transport in slaves; 19 (D) the term ‘‘deportation or forcible 20 transfer of population’’ means forced displace- 21 ment of the persons concerned by expulsion or 22 other coercive acts from the area in which they 23 are lawfully present, without grounds permitted 24 under international law; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5880 IH (E) the term ‘‘torture’’— 1 (i) means the intentional infliction of 2 severe pain or suffering, whether physical 3 or mental, for such purposes as obtaining 4 information or a confession, punishment, 5 intimidation or coercion or for any reason 6 based on discrimination of any kind; but 7 (ii) does not mean pain or suffering 8 arising only from, inherent in or incidental 9 to, lawful sanctions; 10 (F) the term ‘‘forced pregnancy’’ means 11 the unlawful confinement of a person forcibly 12 made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the 13 ethnic composition of any population or car- 14 rying out other grave violations of international 15 law; 16 (G) the term ‘‘persecution’’ means the in- 17 tentional and severe deprivation of fundamental 18 rights contrary to international law by reason of 19 the identity of the group or collectivity; 20 (H) the term ‘‘crime of apartheid’’ means 21 an institutionalized regime of systematic op- 22 pression and domination by one racial, ethnic, 23 or religious group over any other racial, ethnic, 24 or religious group or groups and committed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5880 IH with the intention of maintaining that regime; 1 and 2 (I) the term ‘‘enforced disappearance of 3 persons’’ means the arrest, detention, or abduc- 4 tion of persons by, or with the authorization, 5 support, or acquiescence of, a state or a polit- 6 ical organization, followed by a refusal to ac- 7 knowledge that deprivation of freedom or to 8 give information on the fate or whereabouts of 9 those persons, with the intention of removing 10 them from the protection of the law for a pro- 11 longed period of time. 12 (d) WAR CRIMES.—Any of the following acts against 13 persons or property in an armed conflict, whether the con- 14 flict is of an international or internal character: 15 (1) Willful killing. 16 (2) Torture or inhumane treatment, including 17 biological experiments. 18 (3) Willfully causing great suffering, or serious 19 injury to body or health. 20 (4) Extensive destruction and appropriation of 21 property, not justified by military necessity and car- 22 ried out unlawfully and wantonly. 23 (5) Compelling a prisoner of war or other de- 24 tainee to serve in the forces of a hostile power. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5880 IH (6) Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or 1 other detainee of the rights of fair and regular trial. 2 (7) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlaw- 3 ful confinement. 4 (8) Taking of hostages. 5 (9) Intentionally directing attacks against the 6 civilian population as such or against individual civil- 7 ians not taking direct part in hostilities. 8 (10) Intentionally directing attacks against ci- 9 vilian objectives, that is, objectives which are not 10 military objectives. 11 (11) Intentionally directing attacks against per- 12 sonnel, installations, material, units, or vehicles in- 13 volved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping 14 mission in accordance with the Charter of the 15 United Nations. 16 (12) Intentionally launching an attack in the 17 knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss 18 of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian ob- 19 jects, or widespread, long-term, and severe damage 20 to the natural environment which would be clearly 21 excessive in relation to the concrete and direct over- 22 all military advantage anticipated. 23 (13) Attacking or bombarding, by whatever 24 means, towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5880 IH are undefended and which are not military objec- 1 tives. 2 (14) Killing or wounding a combatant who, hav- 3 ing laid down his arms or having no longer means 4 of defense, has surrendered at discretion. 5 (15) Making improper use of a flag of truce, of 6 the flag or of the military insignia and uniform of 7 the enemy or of the United Nations, as well as of 8 the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions, 9 resulting in death or serious personal injury. 10 (16) The transfer, directly or indirectly, by an 11 occupying power of parts of its own civilian popu- 12 lation into the territory it occupies, or the deporta- 13 tion or transfer of all or parts of the population of 14 the occupied territory within or outside this terri- 15 tory. 16 (17) Intentionally directing attacks against 17 buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, 18 science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, 19 hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded 20 are collected. 21 (18) Subjecting persons who are in the power 22 of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to med- 23 ical or scientific experiments of any kind which are 24 neither justified by the medical, dental, or hospital 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5880 IH treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in 1 his or her interest, and which cause death to or seri- 2 ously endanger the health of such person or persons. 3 (19) Killing or wounding treacherously individ- 4 uals belonging to the hostile nation or army. 5 (20) Declaring that no quarter will be given. 6 (21) Destroying or seizing the enemy’s property 7 unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively 8 demanded by the necessities of war. 9 (22) Declaring abolished, suspended, or inad- 10 missible in a court of law the rights and actions of 11 the nationals of the hostile party. 12 (23) Compelling the nationals of the hostile 13 party to take part in the operations of war directed 14 against their own country, even if they were in the 15 belligerent’s service before the commencement of the 16 war. 17 (24) Pillaging a town or place. 18 (25) Employing poison or poisoned weapons. 19 (26) Employing asphyxiating, poisonous, or 20 other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials, or 21 devices. 22 (27) Employing bullets which expand or flatten 23 easily in the human body, such as bullets with a 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5880 IH hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core 1 or is pierced with incisions. 2 (28) Employing weapons, projectiles, and mate- 3 rial and methods of warfare which are of a nature 4 to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering 5 or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of 6 the international law of armed conflict. 7 (29) Committing outrages upon personal dig- 8 nity, in particular humiliating and degrading treat- 9 ment. 10 (30) Committing rape, enforced prostitution, 11 forced pregnancy, as defined in subsection (c), en- 12 forced sterilization, or any other form of sexual vio- 13 lence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva 14 Conventions. 15 (31) Committing slavery or the slave trade in 16 all their forms. 17 (32) Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other 18 protected person to render certain points, areas, or 19 military forces immune from military operations. 20 (33) Intentionally directing attacks against 21 buildings, material, medical units and transport, and 22 personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Gene- 23 va Conventions in conformity with international law. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5880.IH H5880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5880 IH (34) Intentionally using starvation of civilians 1 as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects 2 indispensable to their survival. 3 (35) Willfully impeding relief supplies as pro- 4 vided for under the Geneva Conventions. 5 (36) Conscripting or enlisting children under 6 the age of 18 into the national armed forces or using 7 them to participate actively in hostilities. 8 SEC. 102. DESCRIPTION OF SANCTIONS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions to be imposed with 10 respect to the government of a foreign country under sec- 11 tion 101 are the sanctions described in subsections (b), 12 (c), (d), and (e). 13 (b) PROHIBITION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may not— 15 (A) provide any United States security as- 16 sistance, intelligence, training, equipment, or 17 services relating to maintenance, testing, or 18 technical data, to the government of the forei [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]