Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, announced a hearing titled “Atrocities in Iraq and Syria: Relief for Survivors and Accountability for Perpetrators” to be held on September 22, 2016 at 10:00 AM.

Earlier this year, Secretary of State John Kerry declared that ISIS has been committing genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in Iraq and Syria. Following the recent introduction by Smith of the bipartisan Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2016 (H.R. 5961), the hearing will highlight ways that the United States can provide relief for the religious and ethnic communities that survived. It will also examine how to ensure that perpetrators of genocide and related crimes in Iraq and Syria are punished.

Witnesses will discuss ways to best support the criminal investigation, prosecution, and conviction of the perpetrators, and identify gaps in U.S. criminal statutes that make it difficult to prosecute Americans or foreigners in the U.S. who have committed such crimes. Additionally, the hearing will investigate the humanitarian vulnerabilities and lack of assistance that force the survivors to flee their homes; recommend ways to support entities effectively serving genocide survivors in-country, including faith-based entities; and examine the creation of a “Priority Two” (“P-2”) designation for Iraqi and Syrian survivors of genocide to give them an additional avenue into the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program process.

Who:               Chairman Smith, Members of the Helsinki Commission, Others

Witness:

·         Chris Engels, Deputy Director, Commission for International Justice and Accountability

·         David Scheffer, Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues

·         Steve Rasche, Legal Counsel and Director of Director of Resettlement Programs, Archdiocese of Erbil

·         Bill Canny, Executive Director, Migration and Refugee Services, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

·         Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight, Knights of Columbus

What:              House Hearing on the War Crimes in Iraq and Syria

When:             Thursday, September 22, 2016 10:00 AM

Where:            Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2200 (second floor)

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