GOP divided over calling out Assad war crimes
Two-thirds of the Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee declined to join their chairman’s call for accountability for Syrian war crimes.
Senate Republicans are deeply divided over how — or whether — to address alleged war crimes by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and his allies, complicating any congressional action on the issue.
Seven of the 11 Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee declined to sign on to a bipartisan letter on the issue spearheaded by Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and ranking member Ben Cardin, D-Md., to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dated Feb. 22. All 10 Democrats on the panel signed the letter, which urges Tillerson to “ensure Assad, Russia and Iran are made to answer for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria.”
Citing a recent Amnesty International report about mass hangings at a Syrian prison and the release three years ago of thousands of photos of alleged executions, the letter asserts that “sufficient documentation exists to charge Bashar al-Assad with war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has lost legitimacy as Syria’s leader.”
The letter goes on to accuse Russia and Iran of being “complicit” in war crimes.
