On February 10, 2016, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission convened a Congressional briefing devoted to the topic of advancing accountability for the commission of international crimes in Iraq and Syria. (Video is here). Formed in 2008 by unanimous consent in the House of Representatives, the bipartisan Lantos Commissionworks to “promote, defend and advocate internationally-recognized human rights norms as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” and other human rights instruments.
The briefing was co-hosted by the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), the American University Washington College of Law’s War Crimes Resource Office (WCRO), theAmerican Bar Association International Criminal Court Project, and the Washington Working Group on the ICC (WICC). Lantos Commission co-chair, U.S. Representative James P. McGovern (D-Mass), gave opening remarks on the range of atrocities being committed in Syria and Iraq and the need to promote accountability—before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and elsewhere. The panel was moderated by ProfessorSusana SáCouto, Director of the WCRO and featured the following panelists:
- Congresswoman Minou Tavarez Mirabal (Dominican Republic), President of the PGA;
- Professor Jane Stromseth of Georgetown Law Center and former Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues in the U.S. Department of State; and
- Deputy Prosecutor of the ICC, James Stewart.
The briefing touched upon a number of key themes, proposals and initiatives:
Integrating Accountability into Counter-Terrorism Efforts: In her opening remarks, Congresswoman Mirabal stressed the importance of integrating accountability into any campaign to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE) and announced the launch of a new PGA P/CVE campaign in partnership with its member Parliamentarians in the Middle East. She urged states to harmonize the promotion of justice with other responses to Daesh’s horrific brand of violence and totalitarianism.
Promoting Domestic Accountability in the Absence of an International Forum: Professor Stromseth emphasized the value of pursuing justice & accountability now, notwithstanding that the conflict remains underway. To do so enables the international community to stand in solidarity with the victims, to make clear to perpetrators that these are crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, and to lay an essential foundation for a more just and inclusive peace. Although the ICC is largely (but not entirely) foreclosed from asserting jurisdiction at the moment, Professor Stromseth drew attention to a number of domestic accountability efforts.
Most notably, ISIS member Umm Sayyaf—the widow of Daesh leader Abu Sayyaf, who was killed in a raid by U.S. Special Forces in Iraq in May 2015—has been charged in Iraq (by the Kurdish Regional Government) with holding Yezidi women and girls in sexual slavery. The United States Department of Justice has also announced the initiation of domestic charges against Sayyaf for her involvement in the conspiracy that resulted in thedetention, rape, and death of U.S. aid worker Kayla Mueller. The FBI affidavit underlying the charges indicates that Sayyaf was advised of, and waived, her Miranda rights. She apparently admitted to many of the material allegations against her, including her role in maintaining the custody of Kayla and other young women on behalf of ISIL in conditions amounting to “slavery”. Several young women who had been detained with her escaped and provided testimony to the FBI about the terrible circumstances of Kayla’s captivity. Sayyaf will be charged under 18 U.S.C. §2339B with conspiracy to provide material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). In May 2014, ISIL (a.k.a. ISIS and Daesh) was added to the FTO list (8 U.S.C. §1189) as an “alias” of Al Qaida in Iraq, which had been on the list since 2004. Kayla, who is profiled here, was captured in August 2013 and was believed to be the last U.S. hostage. It appears that she was killed in a Royal Jordanian Air Force strike near Raqqa, Syria, in February 2015.
Read the full post at Just Security.
- Publication Type:Other Writing
- Publication Date:02/22/2016