To provide for the payment of claims of United States prisoners of war in the First Gulf War, and for other purposes.

May 22, 2003

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself, Mr. GOODE, and Mr. CAMP) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

To provide for the payment of claims of United States prisoners of war in the First Gulf War, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Prisoner of War Protection Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The mistreatment of prisoners of war of the United States has been a serious recurring problem in war after war, and is of immediate concern to the Nation.

(2) The United States takes great pride in the protection of its service men and women, and finds intolerable the recurring pattern of mistreatment of its prisoners of war.

(3) The Third Geneva Convention mandates that prisoners of war must at all times be treated humanely, and that the willful killing, torture, or inhuman treatment or willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health are `grave breaches' of the Convention.

(4) Article 129 of the Third Geneva Convention mandates that `Each High Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed . . . grave breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its own courts.'.

(5) Article 131 of the Third Geneva Convention provides that `No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself or any other High Contracting Party of any liability incurred by itself or by another High Contracting Party in respect of [grave] breaches . . .'.

(6) Both the United States and the Republic of Iraq are High Contracting Parties to the Third Geneva Convention, and more than 170 countries, as state parties to the convention, have assumed its obligations.

(7) The Third Geneva Convention mandates that prisoners of war `must at all times be protected . . . against insults and public curiosity'; the Iraqi practice in both the First and Second Gulf Wars of subjecting United States prisoners of war to coerced propaganda videotapes is therefore a violation of the Convention.

(8) During the First Gulf War, the House of Representatives, in response to the propaganda videotapes, passed House Concurrent Resolution 48 on January 23, 1991, by a vote of 418-0, condemning `the flagrant and deliberate violations' by Iraq resulting in the brutal torture and inhumane treatment of United States prisoners of war during that war, and the Senate, also in response to the patent abuse of the prisoners of war, passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 on January 24, 1991, by a vote of 99-0, demanding that `Iraq abide by the principles and the obligations of the Third Geneva Convention concerning the treatment of prisoners of war . . . .' and condemning Iraq's failure to do so; subsequently, Iraq ignored these resolutions of the Congress and continued to brutally mistreat United States prisoners of war.

(9) Seventeen United States prisoners of war from the First Gulf War and 37 of their family members have brought an historic action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Republic of Iraq, the Iraqi Intelligence Service, and Saddam Hussein in his capacity as President of the Republic of Iraq, for the brutal torture of the prisoners of war while held by Iraq during the First Gulf War. In this action--

(A) an entry of default was entered against defendants on September 25, 2002; and

(B) the factual and legal submissions for a judgment by the court, including detailed sworn affidavits as to Iraq's brutal torture, were submitted to the court on March 31, 2003.

Those sworn affidavits show shocking brutality directed against the United States prisoners of war by Iraq.

(10) The Congress determined, in enacting section 1605(a)(7) of title 28, United States Code, permitting suit against terrorist states for personal injury or death caused by an act of torture, which was the legal basis for this historic action against Iraq by the tortured United States prisoners of war, that substantial civil damages are an important additional deterrent against such acts of torture directed against nationals of the United States.

(11) The Republic of Iraq and its agencies, instrumentalities, and controlled entities had approximately $1,730,000,000 in blocked assets in the United States at the start of the Second Gulf War.

(12) Those assets were vested by the Executive Order 13290 of March 20, 2003, for the purpose of assisting in the reconstruction of Iraq.

(13) Approximately $300,000,000 of the blocked assets were initially set aside for the satisfaction of civil judgments obtained by United States hostages held in Iraq during the First Gulf War, but no amount of the blocked assets was set aside for those plaintiffs who were United States prisoners of war and who, at that time, already had an entry of default against Iraq.

(14) The plaintiffs in the historic case against Saddam Hussein and Iraq who were United States prisoners of war have established a nonprofit Foundation for the assistance of United States and Allied prisoners of war and those missing in action and their families, and have pledged to the court that a substantial amount of any noncompensatory damages realized from the case will be donated to the new Foundation.

(15) The Republic of Iraq has great national wealth, with proven oil reserves of at least 110,000,000,000 barrels, second only to Saudi Arabia, and 3 times those of the United States, and when its reserves are fully developed they may even exceed those of Saudi Arabia.

(16) Other nations have not absolved Iraq of its state obligations under the Third Geneva Convention arising from the First Gulf War and other sources, and the torture and inhuman treatment of United States prisoners of war during the First Gulf War are, in any event, a `non-absolvable liability' of the state of Iraq.

(17) Iraq has not accounted for one of the United States prisoners of war held by Iraq during the First Gulf War.

(18) In the Second Gulf War, Iraq is in violation of the Third Geneva Convention by subjecting United States prisoners of war to coerced propaganda videotapes, and there are disturbing reports of the willful killing and mistreatment of United States prisoners of war by Iraq, violations condemned in Senate Concurrent Resolution 31, which passed on April 9, 2003, by a vote of 99-0, and in House Concurrent Resolution 118, which passed on March 27, 2003, by a vote of 419-0.

(19) The United States has a critical national interest in ensuring the protection of United States prisoners of war, enhancing compliance with the Third Geneva Convention, and in taking immediate decisive action that could contribute to the protection of United States prisoners of war.

SEC. 3. POLICY REGARDING PERSONS.

(a) POLICY- It is the policy of the United States, in accordance with article 129 of the Third Geneva Convention, to search out and try before its courts persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, grave breaches of the Third Geneva Convention against United States prisoners of war, including willful killing, torture, and inhumane treatment.

(b) IMPLEMENTATION- The United States will vigorously implement the policy set forth in subsection (a) toward those persons who have mistreated United States prisoners of war during the First and Second Gulf Wars, including those in the Iraqi Government who have ordered or carried out any such mistreatment.

SEC. 4. POLICIES REGARDING COUNTRIES.

(a) POLICY- It is the policy of the United States, in accordance with article 131 of the Third Geneva Convention, to hold liable countries that commit grave breaches against United States prisoners of war, including willful killing, torture, and inhumane treatment. As a High Contracting Party to the Third Geneva Convention, the United States will not absolve such states of any such liability.

(b) PAYMENT OF CLAIMS- In carrying out the policy set forth in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury, at the request of the plaintiffs, shall pay from the Treasury, in full, but in an amount not exceeding the sum of those blocked funds of Iraq and its agencies, instrumentalities, and controlled entities that were vested by Executive Order 13290 of March 20, 2003, for the purpose of assisting in the reconstruction of Iraq, any judgment in Civil Action No. 02-0632 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia brought by United States prisoners of war and their family members against the Republic of Iraq, the Iraqi Intelligence Service, and Saddam Hussein in his capacity as President of the Republic of Iraq, for the brutal torture of those United States prisoners of war during the First Gulf War. The United States shall be fully subrogated against the Republic of Iraq for payments made under this subsection.

SEC. 5. POLICY WITH RESPECT TO PRISONERS OF WAR IN SECOND GULF WAR.

If, following the Second Gulf War, it becomes evident that United States prisoners of war have been killed, tortured, or mistreated during that war, or that the unaccounted for United States prisoner of war from the First Gulf War was killed or tortured by Iraq, it shall be the policy of the United States to support the claims of those United States prisoners of war and their immediate family members against the Republic of Iraq, for resolution on the basis of the same policy as is set forth in section 4.

SEC. 6. DEFINITION.

In this Act, the term `Third Geneva Convention' means the Geneva Convention of 1949 relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

END