Senators Bob Corker, Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Todd Young (R-In.), and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced the Syrian War Crimes Accountability Act on Friday to instruct the Secretary of State to report on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Syria, as well as to authorize assistance for investigations and other credible transitional justice efforts, including a potential hybrid tribunal, to hold Assad and his regime accountable for their heinous acts.
The Syrian civil war has lasted for six years and hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed, many at the hands of dictator Bashar al-Assad and his regime. Millions more have fled the country as refugees.
"Bashar al-Assad continues to demonstrate that he is a brutal dictator who belongs behind bars," said Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The U.S. should contribute to a legitimate process that will pursue accountability for Assad and all those guilty of war crimes in Syria.”
A section-by-section summary of the bill is available online here.