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Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Howard Berman introduced the Genocide Accountability Act of 2007. This bill would close a legal loophole that prevents the United States Department of Justice from prosecuting people in our country who have committed genocide abroad. “This bill is urgently needed to ensure that the United States can bring to justice those who commit this atrocious crime when they are not prosecuted elsewhere,” Berman said.
Under current law, the United States cannot prosecute foreign nationals suspected of genocide that are living in our country. The Justice Department has identified individuals who had an active role in the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides living in the United States under false pretenses. They are unable to interview or charge any of these individuals because they lack jurisdictional rights. “The fact that we know who these people are and where they are, yet are unable to prosecute them is an injustice to all those who suffered from genocide,” said Berman. “This bill must be enacted as swiftly as possible to provide the Justice Department with the tools they need.”
Rep. Berman was joined by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) in introducing the bill. In March, the Senate passed by unanimous consent, S.888, identical bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Durbin, Coburn, Leahy, Cornyn, and Feingold.
The Genocide Accountability Act of 2007 has been endorsed by numerous organizations including Africa Action, the American Jewish World Service, Amnesty International USA, the Armenian Assembly of America, the Armenian National Committee of America, the Genocide Intervention Network, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, Refugees International, and the Save Darfur Coalition.
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