this senate foreign relations committee hearing runs about

2 hours. >> this hearing of this senate foreign relations committee will come to order . assistant secretary, we're glad to welcome you in your role and i'm glad you finally made it and most importantly we are happy that you're here . thank you for coming before us today. assistant secretary of defense, thank you for coming back to the committee as i'm sure many know the assistant secretary was our middle east expert for a while so we are

glad to see her back. i have been asking a simple but important question for some time i hope this hearing will answer. what is the administrations strategy on syria? during the last presidential election secretary lincoln road when joe biden is president we will restore us leadership on humanitarian issues. and yet with the frozen conflict in syria leading to immense humanitarian political security dilemmas the leadership from theunited states or elsewhere seems lacking . like lights in syria are resuming.embassies and damascus are reopening. when hassan landed in the united arab emirates he was given a warm welcome as any other head of state would have received. as if he had never order a barbaric bombardment of innocent syrian civilians and

as if he never order chemical weapon attacks that left gasping for their lives on ventilators. this comes within weeks of new evidence of syrian atrocities coming to light. video of soldiers forcing victims to climb down into a mass grave before massacring them. think of the message this sends two other dictators around the world who would butcher innocent civilians. you can commit war crimes in broad daylight on camera and the global community will just shrug its shoulders. this is not lost on and ran. after propping up assad with billions of dollars or with such impunity only fuels the region's aggression with her to attacks on us personnel or threatening our allies and

partners in iraq and jordan not to mention fueling an active battleground on israel's border and it is not lost on pitching. no one who has followed putin's brutality in syria the past decade should be surprised that he is starving and showing ukrainians just as he start and shelled syrians. while i have seen the administrations written strategy for serious required in the and the aa , which was skeletal from my perspective i look forward to delving a bit more in detail into the tools and us international political will to execute that strategy. i'd like to hear whether you believe un security council resolution 2255 has lived up to the path we thought it was good. because it seems the roads we need to be traveling onour crumbling . earlier this year in an attempt to free imprisoned extremists isis launched a massive jailbreak.

they attacked a syrian prison with car bombs andgunmen in a battle that lasted more than a week . on top of that the assad regime and hezbollah are manufacturing addictive pills effectively turning syria into a nautical states, trafficking the drug throughout europe and the middle east to obtain hard currency despite sections with the un mandate for cross-border humanitarian aid expiring next month there is a real question as to whether russia will support an extension. particularly as the war in ukraine has ushered in a food crisis that has hit syria and a number of its neighbors. we need to continue to prioritize our response to this dire humanitarian situation. we must continue to support partners in jordan, lebanon and turkey across europe will have absorbed the community that amounts to 6.8 million

people worldwide. added to this another 6.7 million who have been displaced within syria. leaving an entire generation of syrian children growing up with dim prospects of ever returning home or the possibility of a bright future. to close let me lay out what i see as priorities that the us and international community must continue to hold the assad regime accountable for its crimes. we need acomprehensive strategy . one that enforces fully the robust set of us sanctions and means to build leverage that will sharpen assad's choices and maintain his political isolation. this includes using such sanctions against assad's benefactors in moscow and karen and means pending a clear signal we cannot tolerate a return to business as usual with assad and his murderous regime. a strategy would lean in to

aggressive un diplomacy to continue to marshal the international community in support of this leverage and reinvigorate the political process . to this and i am glad that the nda bureau has appointed and confirmed later us secretary but there remain a number of nominees for viable positions in the middle east need to move forward including crucially for syria as usaid's assistant administrator for the middle east. the us would continue to prioritize bringing its own resources and resources of the international community to bear on serious humanitarian crisis while being judicious to focus our assistance in ways that doesn't benefit the regime . it would include how to continue to help syria's neighbors especially jordan and lebanon who have shown incredible hospitality to those fleeing assad's brutality but nonetheless are bearing a significant strain . to that end we need a full-court press to address

the mandate for the last remaining border crossing for desperately needed humanitarian assistance to hold with a ready to implement strategy for pushing that assistance if and when russia uses its veto. putin cannot be allowed to hold desperate syrians as ransom for demands of relief. that strategy should include new consideration of russia's role in syria following the invasion of ukraine and steps needed to reduce russian activities while denying around and hezbollah the ability to fill any vacuum created by russia's occupation with ukraine. it should also address turkish role in syria taking into consideration is hosting millions of refugees and its position as a launch! for humanitarian assistance. to its destructive campaigns against our curtis partners in the fight against isis including renewed threats to invade northern syria. it would further flush out steps needed to counter the danger posed by hezbollah and

iranian weapons and traffic across syria and layout concrete steps to be taken to secure the release of the us citizens often times who have been detained by the hassan regime since 2012 and 2017 respectively. it must provide a path forward that allows unfettered the military and access and war crime investigations and must provide a long-term legal strategy for ensuring that the hoarders that the has inflicted on the syrian people do not go unanswered. and it should describe how the us can help rally the weight of international pressure to pursue the political path to unfreeze this conflict. on this congress has been clear. we overwhelmingly passed the syrian civilian protection act with whose primary purpose is to sanction companies or individuals who facilitate those brutalities

or that they are doing business with the syrian government or its security services providing aircraft for spare parts and i would like to see the administration use all these tools. we cannot simply allow the regime to return to business as usual. we cannot turn our backs on the syrian people and we cannot give up supporting them as so many desperately try to work towards a free and democratic syria. america's values, its principles and its reputation on the world stage hanging in the balance. with that let me turn to senator rich, ranking member's let me put my statements in two contexts before i start. >> ..

the world had never seen atrocities to this scale since the second world war and what we are uncovering now in ukraine. the crimes are well documented in addition to caesar fire, hundreds of thousands of government documents linking crimes directly to al-assad. stephen, former u.s. ambassador for war crimes argued we have more evidence against the regime and we did against the nazis. in a previous hearing we heard directly from the regimes continued atrocities. today, who hear from another who risked his life to bring these accounts of gross human rights

violations to the international community. accountability for a thought has been slow and mechanisms are few. neither syrian or the united states members of the international court and it remains a dangerously politicized body. nations have begun to pursue accountability under their own courts, i was heartened to hear recent conviction of an official in germany involved in the torture of syrian civilians on the mass scale. this is a start but we need to do more. we must establish a more robust formalized accountability mechanism. turning to syria policy moving forward, the united states has maintained a policy of economic diplomatic isolation to force a political solution in the syrian conflict. unfortunately that policy is beginning to crumble and i remain concerned this administration is accepted the role as the conclusion. worse, i feel the administration is approving outreach to the

regime. sanctions enforcement has been lacking and administration support for energy through syria to lebanon violates the caesar act. i'm deeply concerned with the administration's funding so-called early recovery projects in regime held argus. these activities crossed the line for prohibited construction and open the door to normalization with a thought. the administration's syria policy consists of four lines of effort. the islamic state, maintain cease-fire and syria, expand humanitarian access and seek accountability for crimes. while these are, it's my concern they have been sufficient efforts expanding beyond manicuring access into the realm of reconstruction always seemed little movement seeking accountability for the regime. it's virtually vitally important the u.s. hold the line against the regime, current and future

autocrats are watching actions. we cannot send a message to forget these atrocities over time and welcome assault back to the international community. i'm gravely concerned by the number of our partners who have increased formal and informal relationships with the regime in recent years including establishment of official diplomatic outposts in pursuit of economic relationships. you 80s outreach has been particularly problematic. the normalization reconstruction is clear. any engagement with the regime, diplomatic or economic must be met with firm response using tools laid out in the caesar act. we must ensure policy doesn't entrench the regime, energizes progress under the security council resolution 2254 and the american values. i asked unanimous consent, video documenting regime war crimes and be added to the record.

it is difficult to watch, it is important we put these crimes out in the light of day. to the witnesses again, thank you for being here, the chairman and i have talked about the situation, about the problems. we have a lot of witnesses who come reiterate what we have said. we've outlined the problems with the tools, we want to hear how you use them to do what you have said is a policy in the united states. thank you for being here. >> thank you, senator. your video will be included without objection. we will start witness testimony, secretary lee and assistant secretary, your full statements will be included in the record without objection. we ask you to summarize in about five minutes or so to enter into conversation with you. your recognized.

>> chairman menendez, distinguished members of the committee, for the past year the administration has led allies and partners crafting common diplomatic approach to syria pursuing concrete actions to improve lives of syrians to protect vital national u.s. national security interest. let me be frank, after more than a decade of conflict prospects remain limited for advancing political solution worthy of syrians who demand change more than ten years ago. syrians are hungrier and more impoverished than at any time in the conflict with over 12 million food insecure. the ultimate responsibly for this tragedy rests backed by russia and iran who's brought us to the brink of ruin and remains in transient. the administration led international coordination in the face of this, we focus on bettering conditions for syrians pursuing justice for those wronged by the regimes mitigated risk with neighbors of this

terrible conflict. we have the following priority defeating isis and credit increasing access to humanitarian aid keeping provincetown maintaining cease-fire, promoting accountability for the regime's atrocity. these are critical steps on the path to advancing adjust political settlement under 2254. we continue to strongly support special envoy peterson effort and i look forward to speaking with him this week. we remain committed to working relentless and bring home american citizens wrongfully detained or held hostage to include. in terms of reducing suffering on the ground humanitarian needs are higher than ever compounded by the historic levels of drought, decades of mismanagement and corruption and the terrible effects in global food security, putin's war on ukraine. expanding humanitarian access is central to our strategy. last year he successfully negotiated a new resolution for

25852 keep order crossings opened in northwestern syria and we are deeply committed to doing the same this year. we've been committed from day one, preserving military presence in the northeast, coalescing international support to increase stabilization funding. we press countries of origin nationals from northeast syria including foreign terrorist fighters. areas liberated from isis civilization assistance and new economic opportunities will help address growing economic insecurity and keep isis at bay. on existing cease-fire, we were deeply concerned by recent increase rhetoric from turkey about potential military moves into north syria and we've stepped up diplomatic engagement to attempt to stop that. i know in the past two years violence in syria at its lowest compared to other periods in the decade but we are working to

keep it so. the administration is committed to promoting accountability and justice and enduring peace and stability and syria will not be possible without justice for the syrian people. i mindful your panel will include testimony from ralph whistleblower known as the gravedigger. i've had the honor to meet and harrowing accounts of atrocities in syria shook me to the core. we will continue to promote accountability for his atrocities. sanctions including those under the caesar act are critical elements in that regard. we are grateful to congress adding to the bipartisan efforts to broaden our toolkit and continue to use all our tools including caesar against the regime. all of our efforts support wider security and stability to offset the effects criminal war has had on neighbors. iranian forces including irg

see, has blocked friend security directly of allies and partners, most certainly israel and german. in that regard, the u.s. fully supports israel's ability to exercise its right of self-defense. while i have outlined necessary building blocks for regional stability and prerequisites building a road to political resolution, i want to be clear on what we have not done in syria and what we will not do which is support efforts to normalize or rehabilitate, lift sanctions on regime change position opposing reconstruction and syria until there's authentic enduring progress or political solution. the single largest impediment to the goal, they must and will be held accountable. thank you very much. >> thank you, secretary.

>> chairman menendez, english members of the committee, it is an honor to testify before you today particularly because u.s. policy for syria and issue have spent significant time working on with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as a professional staff member for this committee. it is our pleasure to join her first testimony before you and the state department. dod role in syria is limited by geography and mission, the department supports the lines of effort identified and outlined by assistant secretary we put our activities on the ground are solely focused on enduring defeat of isis. to achieve this, dod as part of the global coalition to defeat isis works by, with and through that it capable partner forces in northeast syria and in the vicinity southern syria.

dod remains capable of rapidly deploying forces to conduct operations in other areas of syria, exemplified by the february 22 rate resulting in the death of former isis leader. isis remains real potent threat, the group continues to conduct attacks and maintain intent to direct, support and inspire attacks across the globe and against the homeland. in northeast syria, syrian democratic forces remain our most capable partner in the fight. the fund is an essential tool for enabling stf and other vetted partners to achieve the defeat of isis, tremendous things to congress for your continuing support and authorizing appropriate tests. we directed toward basic life support, detention facility

construction, training and sustainment. military tools alone cannot achieve isis enduring defeat. the international community must do more to prevent isis from reconstituting. number one, increasing support for stabilization and areas liberated from isis and number two, prioritize reducing isis wider population and displaced persons camp managed by sef across syria. this includes more than 10000 isis fighters and approximately 60000 displaced persons. the department is focused on supporting sef to provide for the humane secure detention of these populations working with sef to grow and professionalize guard force responsible for securing facilities. january 22 isis attack is a reminder isis still a serious

threat and sees detention facilities as an area from which to reconstitute forces. countries of origin must repatriate, rehabilitate, re- integrate and where appropriate, prosecute, there nationals residing in northeast syria. quixote support state department efforts providing adjustable support to countries willing to bring national home for the more we support efforts to work with the government to accelerate case of the repatriation effort. beyond the focus on the isis mission, i want to touch on the stress opposing risk of forces risk mission in syria. number one, iran. iran enables aligned militia and iraq and syria to execute indirect fire and unmanned aerial system attacks against u.s. and coalition forces will not hesitate to take

proportionate action defense to protect service members. number two, russia. syria remains one area in the world for u.s. russian forces operate in close proximity on a daily basis. the coalition maintains with the russian military to protect coalition forces reduce risk of inadvertent this calculation. number three, turkish military operations in northern syria, we are working to maintain the d isis mission, sure safety of the civilian operation and above all the protection of the u.s. coalition forces. large-scale incursion will undermine and jeopardize for missions and priorities, we've communicated concerns to turkey across the u.s. government. it should go without saying that iran and russia's military intervention and ongoing activity inside syria and service of the regime have

enabled brutal violence and human rights abuses against the people. quixote supports the state department whole of government strategy to end violence by focusing on concrete action to improve the lives of syrians and underlying causes of the conflict. thank you and i look forward to your sessions. >> let me ask you both, without the benefit of further details from of the strategy provided by the administration seems a continuation of what is already being done. can you provide further details on the strategy to shed light whether and how it represents course correction from earlier attempts to address the crisis? what about this is different from what's already done that's

if there are no significant changes, what makes you think it will work now after 11 years of conflict? >> thank you for that question, i am not sure i would call it a course correction but the administration undertook and evaluation, the situation in syria as presented today and find or u.s. national security interests as i outlined in elaborated ways to pursue them, it's a larger multilateral effort having with partners in the region and europe taking attention toward that conflict and away from syria and i plan

to make syria a priority within the department of state to enhance as noted. the ranking member noted, sharpen the pressure and close collaboration with peterson to define how we might best use the leverage we have, isolation, enhanced isolation and depression to get substantial gain. among other things and even the political seems a lot right now,

and there are a series of things and within the resume ability news soon change, and even conditions such as an accountability for the disappeared ceasing of the construction setting conditions for the safe return of refugees. i view these pieces assembled as being the element can tell you what i hear from leaders in the region and basically their argument is your all not doing anything about massage. we need to deal with it in the absence of any concrete measures. you saw the you posted a thought

on the anniversary which was a callous moment most of them any moment. what further steps of the administration taking to prevent countries like you a you and others normalizing ties with the asad regime? >> sermon, one thing i have looked at closely is the difference between the rhetoric and misinformation disinformation, much propagated by russians and iranians to suggest sweeping ways in the region. an opinion is divided with a significant number of states having no desire having traveled down that road. what i hear from the partners of ours in the region, there is an arab voice, arab voices missing in damascus for too long. the way to get at negating,

diminishing, pushing out iranian presence and iranian activities is to reinsert that. i am fully skeptical, i think it's from every direction and gives nothing in return. what i intend to urge is that engagement must produce results for the benefit of the syrian people. >> two final questions, we have the cross-border issue that will expire, how do you see that playing out? is a political solution under 2254 still viable? even though i think it's a desirable path, there is nothing behind it. >> to your first question, 2585 last year russia lost the same threat of a veto and the administration across the

administration to bring countries together, a passage of a resolution doing a similar strategy, if anything there is greater sense around urgency and critical nature of a bore axis points and if anything, we look for further points so we are very committed to that. 2254, i agree, there's not a lot of room for optimism right now. i am an eternal optimist that i am focused on making progress whether the humanitarian conditions for syrian people, measures that lie within the remit to grants but i also

intend to work aggressively on the political aspects. >> i hope your right on the issue, that was pre-ukraine. >> i agree, the situation will be a lot tougher now. a little over ten years ago i was in this room sitting here and we have people sitting in the chairs you are sitting in and they short us asad couldn't last more than 30 days a month that was over ten years ago and of course he's still there. during that ten years, it's hard to find anyone on the planet before it has done worse. he is right up there. when you see something like him being welcome by another

country, the distinguished head of state, it is sickening particularly when it's being done by states that a friend of ours and share our values, there's nothing in welcoming this man is a conquering hero that reflects america's values at all. i hope you continue in strongest terms to communicate to those people how nauseating it is to us. the chairman and i have both done that and we would welcome to join in that, but we are going through in ukraine is somewhat like this, we can't have this in just as what happened in ukraine, the hostilities have cranked down but we can't have this in until

it's over. it's not over, it will never be over until people are held to account for what they have done and we are a long ways from that. i think the one case i referred to is merely scratching the surface but this is something that's got to go on for a long time. i'd appreciate hearing from each of you your efforts as the chairman and i have done and push back on allies of ours from doing what they appear to be doing things well, it's over. no, it is not. >> i couldn't agree with you more, i've spent three years in bosnia after guns have fallen silent. a devastated country and years later it is still socially economically the walking wounded

acute feeling among the public that accountability was missing and they were forced to live with people who had only a few years earlier killed, massacred their loved ones so i know how the failure for accountability wants society and why i am committed to this because society without the means to gain accountability to understand where their loved ones went, who was responsible and how they will be held accountable as a society simply cannot deal so i am dedicated to that and as to ten years ago, i admit at the time i was working on iraq, deputy six and secretary deeply concerned about the stove effects, it would act

as a bellows on iraq and it did. i was ever confident assad would fall not because i had a crystal ball but is in the nature of such regimes they claim they are the last one to go down and they don't crack easily. all of that said, my own conversations with our partners in the region close or not so close will be informed by these values. i was shocked, welcomed as any head of state, we've made it clear it is an enormous propaganda value and nothing more so i will continue those efforts. >> i am almost out of time. he made reference in your opening statements to the

situation in northeast syria. both of us have had heads of state and others from the region underscore what are really serious problem this is. what can you tell us about the situation and what you see there and what your efforts are to do something about it? >> thank you, as i noted in my opening statement, the only long-term solution both for the future stabilization in the area and the defeat of isis is the reduction of the population in the region of these isis buyers and country of origin, will need to go beyond iraq and syria. we are continually engaging through diplomacy and offering support to the country. number two, tremendous efforts

through the united nations, the u.s. government and partners in the coalition to support the iraqi government, majority of these are iraq and origin and long-term solution for the integration of syrian fighters into the communities which will be difficult without broader political process syria button is a long-term proposition and will require intense painstaking diplomacy supported by humanitarian stabilization aid which we will continue. we are focused on ensuring facilities are secure and humane to the housing and sncf bearing the burden for the international community securely and humanely have the support they provide. going with authorities to construct purposeful studies for the secure humane detention of isis items and ensuring the guards of these areas have proper training to address the

needs of the population and need to detain them. >> thank you, mr. chairman and our witnesses. i want to follow up on the accountability issue because it is concerning to know that asad has been able to accumulate corruption in the way these led syria misuse of power to see him welcomed, he said he made it clear to the uae and other countries in the region that have done similar types of accommodations the regime, contrary to our policies that have good ties and partnerships with the united states. you go more with us for the game plan isolating the asad regime

particularly in the region and how we engage traditional preachers in the region to make it clear welcoming asad is not welcome here in the united states? >> thank you for that question. over the course of the past year i would say you have a couple of high profile events such as asad posted in the uae. there have been phone calls and interactions between regional governments and the regime, have not highlighted every time we had the discussions but i can assure you there ongoing which each and every government in the region and last year there was quite a bit of remix, more than

remote that there was consideration of unfreezing, reinstating serious membership, the decision for the league and the members suffice to say who's had a number of conversations and in the end there was no appetite for that and that's why i said earlier there is the effort ongoing by the regime to paint a picture that's re- embraced by the region. they are making sure it is not the case. i plan to use a variety of tools to that end to sharpen his isolation and it will be part of the roadmap with our submission, i hope eventually our missions will be led by confirmed investors but they were have

their playbook that conversation with the government to ensure we muster the deepest sense of leverage against all the elements. >> talking about the asad regime trying to reach out to be a serious who disagree and the trap act, what strategies do we have to make it clear that we will not allow the conversation to be in a manipulated by the regime, what reforms are we working on and how much success have we had? >> that's something i would need to get more reach on but suffice to say i recognize this is a key piece of our approach. we do not want the abuse to

essentially go after dissidents or everyday experience living abroad. i will make that part of the playbook. >> i appreciate that let me underscore a lot of tools at our disposal including sanctions and other ways we can express concerns about the conduct of the asad regime. i suggest the timing on these issues could be impacted by what's happening in the region as far as asad being welcomed in other countries, and issue we have to be sensitive how we handle the timing to make it clear we not accept asad being welcomed as a normal partner in the region. >> points well taken, thank you.

>> senator portman is with us virtually. >> appreciate it and thanks for your testimony today. for what it is worth, my sense is other countries are looking to us to figure out what our plan is long-term for asad and until we have a clear picture and give them a better sense of what we intend to have happen, i think it is difficult for us help us in terms of isolating him, developing a normal relationship with him. our u.s. policy preserving the official war, those are questions that i think have to be answered. i don't know if you're interested in answering that.

i want to focus on two issues, using food as a weapon, we've seen resident putin do this in ukraine, he's doing it as we talk and we have seen asad and russia do that. the russian diplomats united nations security council abused their power to close down these core doors going into syria. groups around the world, starting people in syria are frustrated, it's making their work harder. i guess they believe by taking away this ability to help on the food front, it forces people to rely on asad, his legitimacy would be enhanced by the. i would like to know if you think that is true but my question is, there's a resolution coming up next month

to hopefully reauthorize the one remaining border crossing still being used so will russia veto that resolution and what are you doing to engage other countries to ensure this can continue? >> to your question, food as a weapon, making them more food insecure makes them more dependent on asad, i think the answer is simpler. it is cruelty for cruelty psaki. it is brutality, it's because they can do it. the record of the conflict.

we are already well underway in terms of methodical aggressive efforts to have it renewed as a cross-border access points into western syria and we will look for further access points. it is more critical than even last year when it was urgent that be maintained. food insecurity is all the greater because of putin's brutal war on ukraine and what it has done to lockup ukrainian week stores and other commodities and other ports so it is more critical than ever humanitarian community is on it, the donor community is fixated on it and i think there is a wide consensus already that

cross borders must be renewed. >> you been to submit my second question about ukraine and whether it's a vaccine, russian consisting on odesa having an impact, global food insecurity and you said it does have an impact and including the week part of the humanitarian aid practices necessary because it's p keeping people alive so thank you for that. funding this issue, it's a constant frustration, the turks believe somehow sef is a significant threat to them and my understanding is they are on the offensive against our allies and they have signaled in some

cases they might be willing to partner with the regime out of desperation. do you agree with that and i have you engaged not to attack allies and if so, what was the response? >> thank you, the turkish government is well aware of our views, we have had a series of high-level engagements with them, i have not yet, about a week or so into my job, i'm looking for early opportunity to engage the government on this but any venture, military operation across the border into northern area, first and foremost puts the civilian population in the crosshairs and second, severely present risk a critical mission global the isis coalition, the u.s. is undertaking and it puts into the

crosshairs our own partners in the mission so we are completely on our efforts with the turkish government to back on this ill considered venture. >> senator shaheen. >> to do a follow-up on that question, is turkey going to back off? we are expressing concerns but so far they have not responded to our concerns not only on this but other areas. >> to be candid, i couldn't give you the assurance that they are going to. >> thank you. assistant secretary last august before this committee you gave a very thorough whole of

government approach just as you did this morning with senator when he raised concerns about the isis detainees. unfortunately the situation has gotten worse in time and we have passed legislation to create an isis detainees coordinator and i understand will look at counterterrorism as well as isis detainees, i think that's probably not the best way to get something done in that area so can you talk about what we need to do to have a functioning coordinator who can do the things you've laid out so eloquently and needs to be done to address this problem? >> thank you for that question. on the specific question of identifying one coordinator i

am going to defer to assistant secretary barbara leaf on how she will address that but i will address from a dod perspective within the authorities and resources we have, number one, what we can do in the near to medium term which is support the fdf insuring these facilities where isis fighters are housed are more secure and more humane and the displaced persons camp is not a military mission, those are humanitarian camps but what we can do is support them by giving them the tools and the training for addressing the security and humanitarian needs of that unique population set as well as third is engaging constantly with the stf about ensuring access to these populations. >> i don't want to pop you off but i would like barbara leaf to respond.

>> i've had several discussions with the centcom commander, he and i are going to work together on the set of issues, i hope to make an early trip to air rack and engage with the government since so many of the women and children in that camp and the fighters are of iraqi origin. i will also work closely with ct on this issue because it does really require, beyond the isis coalition's efforts to secure the camp, to ensure constant humanitarian support to the residents of the camp. ultimately we have got to get the camp down and i've seen the numbers over the years, 73, 60,000, there are now 56,000.

we've got to be relentless on a separate and i plan to work together with ct. >> do you expect to have an isis detainee coordinator who will be functioning in that capacity? >> i don't know. i will take your question back and i will come back to you on that. >> even though we passed legislation that says that needs to happen, that hasn't happened yet. >> it has not happened yet. the ct bureau is double-headed but i will take your question back. >> mister chairman, clearly we need to pass legislation. if we are really going to see something done and be serious about it, we have to have somebody in charge of that and while i understand ct is still a problem when other middle eastern leaders are coming to members of this committee and saying this is a problem that has to be addressed and we can't do it by ourselves, we

need to figure out how to get this done and we are not making much progress. i have one final question and that is secretary menendez talked about casting on in his opening remarks and we are seeing more and more that the availability of casting on his not only helping to fund the assad regime but also creating a -- and even more destabilizing synthetic drug trade, we are dealing in the united states with fentanyl which i've seen that very directly in my home state of new hampshire so i know the potential problems from the synthetic drug trade. so what can we do to help address that and are you confident the lebanese armed forces can help control that trade that is coming across the border from lebanon? >> i think the dimensions of

the trade, the production and trafficking which by the way as you said is something associated with members of the asad family, the regime, isis, you name it, criminal and terrorist elements from lebanon to syria are involved in that so i think it is an effort goes well beyond the limits of one actor however much they may attempt to deal with it but we've had discussions with the jordanians, saudi's and others who are deeply concerned about the spreading, toxic nature of this trade and what it is doing to their -- i will make it part of my mission, we have a number of agencies already engaged, with information coordinating operations and targeting of

financial trafficking networks and we need to enhance those efforts. >> another reason we need to ensure lebanese armed forces continue to function. >> senator kane. >> a personal word, congratulations on your son's achievement yesterday, that was very exciting to see. i want to ask about refugees and i want to ask about theory and refugees and asylum-seekers in neighboring countries and the effect they are having and the policy in the united states if i may begin with neighboring countries, sizable, 6 million refugees and asylum seekers, sizable populations in lebanon, jordan, turkey and elsewhere, some in refugee camps, many just living as they can in societies and small countries, lebanon, the number of refugees compared to the population is

sizable, very taxing on the school system and other services, in jordan a very water poor country without many water resources these refugee communities are significant challenges for them so talk about just work we are doing, even when we have challenging relationships with turkey but turkey is hosting huge numbers of refugees in camps and in society, what are we doing with the neighboring countries to help them deal with refugee issues so they don't become real trouble spots in countries that have their own internal challenges to deal with? >> you've touched on one of the most enduring, troubling, tragic dimensions of asad's war on his own people which is essential displacement of half of the population either internally or externally and as you said this has been an

enormous set of stressors on countries that are already stressed. lebanon you would think would have broken by now, jordan, equally struggles at times in terms of scarce water resources but creation of jobs and so forth turkey has something on the order of 4 million people and has become a hot topic domestically. we are using the generosity of the american taxpayer and this congress, we are using the funding streams that we have to offset in every way possible this burden and one of the things i touched upon earlier was my desire to work in the space that would help to set conditions in the first instance in syria for idps to return in a safe and secure

unmolested manner to their villages, the un assess ascent we agreed that conditions were at large are not there for the safe, voluntary antistress voluntary dignified return of refugees and indeed there's question whether asad, or less a question than a conviction that aside is happy to keep those refugees outside his borders so we work with each country in turn to assist with, the nature and the problems that hosting these refugees presents and i will say we let ambassador linda thomas greenfield led the pledging conference and announced over $808 million and that will help towards that end. >> let me switch to the

previous administration drove down refugee admissions to quite a low level compared to historic norms, president biden indicated we would raise the refugee back to one hundred 20,000, last year, 2021 we allowed 1200 syrian refugees into the united states and by order of magnitude that was 1200 and a year when we brought 76,000 afghans into the united states in 90 days. one hundred thousand ukrainians because of the turmoil there came to the united states. i support that. on the afghan side i support that. on ukraine inside the syrian numbers are pretty low and they have been in refugee status for some time, not as if they are brand-new in terms of be invented. many of these have been vetted through you and refugee processes for some time now. what do you understand the

administration's plan to be, with syrian refugees to the united states? >> this is something that is under review. i will come back to you with that. i will be having consultations with my colleague and friend about this responsibly but i will get you an answer on that. i agree the numbers are quite low, the needs are enormous. my concern is that we manage this set of stressors on neighboring countries with a variety of tools including welcoming syrians to the united states. >> i yield back. >> i have no other members virtually or here. there have been conflicting accounts of the effect russia's invasion of ukraine has had on its posture in syria, the

overall security situation. russian airstrikes have continued but at a reversed tempo. there are reports that russia is scaling back its presence on the ground in syria raising concerns that iran may be filling the vacuum. have you seen a change in russian syria posture because of ukraine and if so how and where has iran taken advantage of the change? >> thank you, mr. chairman. we have not seen a notable change in russian activities in syria nor in its commitment to backing asad in his campaign that terrorizes the syrian people. i should note again russian forces are still active in syria and operate in close proximity to us forces in syria. it is a testament to the professionalism of us forces that there' is not been an inadvertent escalation or miscalculation. we are there for the enduring defeat of isis but we have seen russian disinformation and misinformation work against

isis in syria. there is no indication that they are taking meaningful action against that mission for us. >> this has been alluded to but the january prison break in northeastern syria and other complex attacks and open extortion of civilians in syria is a reminder that isis remains a threat in both countries even after the end of the physical caliphate. what gaps of these recent attacks exposed in the sds capacity to secure prisons that continue the hunt for isis sells and what is the administration doing to address these gaps and to boost sdf capacity? >> thank you for that question. the sdss are under tremendous pressure, both because they are operating in an area that is not stabilized or recovered since the depravities of isis holding territory, there are

food insecurity, food security challenges in northeast syria that are particularly acute placing stress on sds, the sdf family members and their communities and having access to medicine, supplies, et cetera, are very complicated in this part of northeast syria. what the us military is doing with the coalition is using the authority and appropriations congress granted us to continue to provide stipend training and equipment focus exclusively on defeating isis and supporting the humane and secure detention of those isis detainees and trying to support the sds. i should note again here that the sds will be under even more strained to maintain the focus we wanted to maintain on isis should there be a large-scale turkish invasion? >> senator van holland has

logged onto the wire here so let's go ahead and ask the question. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you to our witnesses. that is a good jumping off point for my question following up on senator portman's question. to the administration made clear to turkey in no uncertain terms that an attack on kurdish groups in northern syria is unacceptable to the united states? after all, as has been said the sdf is critical to the fight against isis. if we communicated that that is a clear, no go zone for the united states? >> yes, senator. >> barbara leaf and dana stroul. >> let me add to what barbara

leaf just confirmed, we are focused on the defeat of isis, maintaining protections for the civilian population in northeast syria and on the protection of us forces and coalition forces, large-scale incursions either by turkish military or by turkish deported opposition in syria would have a negative impact and jeopardize our commitment, we make that clear. >> thank you. as you know, turkey has indicated that they would like to purchase additional f-16s and upgrades for some of their existing of 16s. how would a turkish military action in northern syria impact the administration's decision-making on that? >> it is predecisional and i wouldn't have anything i could offer you today.

>> i hope we are communicating very clearly to turkey that that would be an unacceptable step. turkey is currently threatening to hold up the admission of finland and sweden to nato because of those countries's support for syrian kurds. it seems to me a moment we have to communicate very clearly to turkey what the red lines are here. let me ask you about economic support in northern syria and commend the administration for the granting of general licenses. can you talk a little bit about how those additional economic supports are being implement on the ground? >> in terms of 22, this came about through the helpful suggestion by the chairman and senator rubio that we look to

enhance the opportunities for economic regeneration in the areas liberated from isis and that is what this license is all about. assisting the communities of those areas to engage in commercial activity and so forth that will create resiliency and put at bay the prospects for isis returning to those areas. >> are there any new initiatives that have been undertaken? can you talk more specifically how some of this is being used? >> i'm sorry, i thought you were talking about the general license, you are talking about economic support? >> actually i did mention doctor right. in terms of the general license, have you seen any positive impacts from that?

>> it is a relatively new development. i will dig into that and come back to you with a more detailed assessment as to how that is, what impact that is having. >> thanks. my final question relates to the upcoming july vote in the un security council about the humanitarian cores or. i understand senator rich asked about this and you indicated we went through this last year and at the end we were able to maintain a core door. big things happened since last july, the russian invasion of ukraine. what would it be the impact of russia was to veto and prevent that action this year? >> not to put too fine a point on it, it would trigger a massive humanitarian crisis. there is no substitute for the cross-border access point and part of last year's

discussions, the 2585 language included a commitment the crossline assistance would be prioritized and indeed there have been those efforts throughout the year but to give a sense of the scale, something on the order of 1.5 million syrians are serviced through on an average month. they have been four cross-border conveyances of material, foodstuffs and other commodities to syrians in the northwest over the course of the year, the last one was able to provide provisions for 43,000 syrians so the scale is entirely different. the us is committed to getting humanitarian assistance through to the needy through all possible means but there is no question cross-border access is

the single most important piece of that. dirksen senate office building 0 thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator young. >> thank you, chairman. dana stroul, we have been working to repeal the 1991-2002 authorizations for use of military force and my understanding is operation inherent resolve does not rely on either of these justifications, rather it is authorized pursuant to the 2,000 one a umf. is that accurate? >> yes. >> i want to confirm my understanding. would repeal of the 2002, 91, negatively impact our mission, in danger our service members in syria under operation inherent resolve?

>> repeal of the 2,000 to a ums would be unlikely to constrain reasonably foreseeable range of operations in syria or air rack or to impact our ability to protect national security. there are no ongoing the rely solely on the 2002 a umf as a domestic legal basis. >> in 1991, it is so far into the past that it is not even at issue in most peoples minds, is that accurate? >> that is accurate. >> those dod have the resources necessary to counter the islamic state in the eastern security era and to conduct related counterterrorism operations? >> yes. as a matter of domestic law we rely on the 2,000 one a ums to authorize force in syria against al qaeda and isis. >> thank you. put me on record.

i have spoken to a good idea since we are allies with the iraqi government, the iraqi people, to send the message that we are not any longer at war with them. that was targeted at saddam hussein. assistant secretary barbara leaf, despite your opening statement i'm concerned the administration is signaling it is open to some normalization through its brokered deal to deliver gas to lebanon, the pipeline in syria. the bashar al-assad regime will receive gas in recompense for this flow. this seems in contravention to our policy in syria and counter to the intent of the seas are packed, how does the lebanon gas deal not violate us sanctions borrowing transactions with the syrian government? >> thank you for that question,

great opportunity to lay out what we are intending, what we are hoping to do through this prospect of arrangement and i would stress no decisions have been made because no contracts have been finalized. there's a process underway right now. let me start by saying there is a process underway to finalize contracts between various governments but let me start by saying the driver for any such arrangement is the benefit of the lebanese people. lebanon has been -- it is on the verge of the state's collapse, societal collapse. we are trying for a variety of measures to put a floor under such a prospect, it is one thing, the repercussions for

the wider region would be greater for israel, for jordan and others so we are working on a variety of measures and this is one of them, proffered by regional governments, regional governments coming forward with regional solutions, egypt and jordan transferring egyptian natural gas via jordan, through a syrian pipeline. there is as we understand it no transfer of any kind to the syrian government, it would be in kind and i would stress the lebanese people have two hours of electricity today. it would be a matter of minutes of power. >> i don't have a lot of time left. it is your belief because you alluded to our allies having done this in consultation with some regional allies, you don't think it sends mixed messages or any sort of negative message to allies who are fighting

against the bashar al-assad regime and countries in the region who are concerned about isolating the bashar al-assad regime and holding bashar al-assad accountable? >> i think people are very clear who this is intended for and i will tell you the kingdom jordan is one of the most concerned of our partners about the prospect of collapse in lebanon and he would like to do whatever is possible to mitigate that process. >> thank you both. >> senator kunz. >> thank you to our panel, both for your service and for your testimony. as we all know, russia's unprovoked attack on ukraine has garnered significant global attention but it is critical that we also sustain our focus on into engagement with syria, a country where russia's engagement exploitation, meddling, commission of human rights abuses have led to massive suffering and widespread displacement, 14

million people inside syria are in need of humanitarian aid and nearly all, 97% of the syrian population lives under the poverty line. says chairman of the appropriations committee responsible for our humanitarian assistance i keep pushing for robust assistance including true syrian refugees and those most vulnerable as this conflict grinds on into its eleventh year. it is could go we do everything in our power to maintain humanitarian cross-border access in western syria, i am concerned the prospect of a russian veto it security council when the cross-border mandate renewal comes up this july will lead to further suffering, russia has used its seat on the security council to weaken international resolve across a wide range of issues to spread disinformation. how are we working with other like-minded security council members to prevent the veto and counter russian influence within the security council? >> thank you for that question.

it is an abiding preoccupation for us in the department of state and we are working all channels. i would just say that there are some pretty significant players in this space in terms of channels with russia. one of them is in fact turkey. turkey will be directly affected by the scale of humanitarian crisis unleashed by russia vetoing this border crossing and i know the turkish government is quite engaged in those discussions as are a number of others. as i have looked at this and as we are working together hand in hand with other partners outside the council i think there is a deep consensus on this matter. russia will stand alone, completely alone if it does go forward with this but this is a strictly humanitarian matter.

i'm not going to say whether i'm optimistic or pessimistic at this point, i'm just very focused on getting the results that we need. >> one of the things i have been focused on is the food crisis resulting from russia's unprovoked and illegal attack on ukraine, the way in which 400 million people who were fed by ukrainian agricultural products last year are now at risk of famine. something like 12 million syrian suffer from food and security according to the world food program. what is the status of the food supply in syria? what actions has the administration taken to address the critical need to get access to the agricultural products, how might we address the cooking oil and food shortages brought about by russia's invasion of ukraine and continued blockade of the black seaports of ukraine? >> i know there are efforts

underway in a number of channels in our government to get to the heart of the problem which is a blockade of ukraine's ports, targeting of ukraine's region and other supplies, you are absolutely right siri is made all the more vulnerable by vladimir putin's war in ukraine and so is lebanon next door, lebanon used import something on the order of 80% of its needs from ukraine and the port explosion blue to pieces all of the supplies. we are focusing our humanitarian assistance and our early recovery efforts in this space as part of a larger effort to identify how we can get to the most vulnerable populations. >> if i might ask one last question. for both of you, how is russia repositioning as a result of

the war in ukraine and to what extent are you seeing likelihood of increased uranian involvement in syria as the russians principle security focus is there ongoing war in ukraine? >> thank you for that question. we've seen no meaningful changes and russia's intervention in syria and its support to the bashar al-assad regime or its commitment to backing the bashar al-assad regime and its continued war against the syrian people in syria. with respect to iran, iran's ultimate objective in syria and the region have also not changed, iran commits to pushing us forces and the united states out of the region and continues its commitment to supporting a network of violent proxies and terrorists in terrorizing and destabilizing regional governments as well as threatening israel. from the department of defense perspective, our commitment to pushing back on these

activities and supporting his real and her inherent right to self-defense also has not changed. >> thank you both for your testimony. senator cruz. >> thank you, mister chairman, good morning to each of you. i want to begin by asking you questions about the administration's plan to root injection gas to lebanon through jordan and syria and in the process using the energy infrastructure of the uranian control bashar al-assad regime. in january the united states ambassador to lebanon said that lebanon didn't need to worry about american sanctions and that indeed the us had conveyed assurances to that effect. i publicly stated at the time that that was exceptionally poor advice, that lebanon should absolutely worry about violating us sanctions and show should every other country involved in these schemes.

i added the congress would strongly oppose the biden administration trying to enrich bashar al-assad and we have seen and heard that opposition already today. congress, to say nothing of this committee, will ensure that united states sanctions are fully insured, enforced. . the actions of this administration are endangering the american allies involved in these deals and exposing them to acute future sanctions risks. it is worrying the biden administration has been deliberately vague about this middle east policy. administration officials sometimes say they will provide letters, licenses or waivers to exempt countries from sanctions on bashar al-assad. other times they said oddly enough that the sanctions passed by congress don't apply at all. i would like to ask about that, last october undersecretary

newland said one scheme, quote, falls under the humanitarian category, no sections waiver would be required in this instance. even earlier, state department energy envoy had said gas deals don't count as transactions at all. i would like you to be specific. is it your understanding that the energy project to bring egyptian gas to lebanon via jordan and syria would be exempt from sanctions or would it require waivers and licenses to avoid sanctions exposure? >> thank you for those questions. we have not seen the final details of these contracts so i reserve judgment. we've made no decision, we have made no commitments of exemptions, waivers or what have you. look at the details of these

contracts, treasury will look at these details and make a finding that. what we have seen and been briefed privy to would involve the world bank providing two year loans that would also be conditioned on far reaching reform of the electricity sector to put it on enduring footing. once the world bank looks at this we would look at the details of the contract. >> are public report accurate that you've given assurances that sanctions would apply? >> they are not accurate. what i am aware of, pre-assurances that governments may engage in discussions, discussions about these arrangements but the final decision will be the final decision by the treasury department.

>> i will note the final decision by treasury will not be the final decision. there will be successor administrations and successor administrations i think it is quite likely that a future administration will immediately move to restore pressure on iran and its proxies and very likely to revoke any waivers or licenses granted and as a result, the conduct of the biden administration is exposing our allies to a serious and acute risk of sanctions. >> this set of arrangements, prospect of arrangements came about precisely because of the current concern on the part of the government of jordan and egypt and the number of others about the prospect for the state of lebanon to collapse given the diminishing level of energy available, the resort to

propaganda by hezbollah to bring in sanctioned uranian oil, oil the did not go to the public or the national electricity grid, just disappeared into the black market so this is a way of transparent -- transparently, as our theory of the arrangement, it will transparently provide life-sustaining economic sustaining economy sustaining energy to the public because otherwise the state and society itself is on the point of collapse. >> that may be the theory of the arrangements but doesn't give the administration the ability to disregard mandatory sanctions passed by congress. a final question, you mentioned hezbollah. the united states spent billions of dollars in the last two decades to build the lebanese armed forces. are you aware of the lebanese armed forces stopping hezbollah, weapons convoys in lebanon and how many times? >> i would have to look at that

in detail and come back to you with an answer. >> is it concerning we are giving billions to an armed forces it is not in any meaningful way opposing has bola? >> i can say the following about lebanese armed forces. they are on the verge of being the only remaining national institution that has the capability to sustain security and mitigate the effects of lebanon's collapse. they are the one institution nationally that is trusted by the lebanese public. they are struggling to carry out their responsibilities. the last thing we want to see is the last collapse as well. >> senator rich has a final question. >> very briefly because we need to move to the next group. i am not satisfied with the discussion we have had about lack of caesar sanctions and i've got matters i want to pursue their.

not totally unlike what senator cruz has been pursuing. the answer that syria will be paid in kind in no way exempts us from caesar sanctions. what i would like to do is propose some questions for the record please and ask they commit to respond. >> just announced we were going to go to the next panel but since you just arrived in the nick of time we will recognize you but after this i'm making a public announcement we are moving to the next panel. if someone has not arrived, submit their questions for the record. >> wednesday, every committee is scheduled at 10:00 and you can be ubiquitous in some instances here, it is very difficult because of the distance you have to travel so i apologize to committee

members. the bashar al-assad regime broker century-old taboo against use of chemical weapons. we obviously want to illuminate the scourge of chemical weapons which is all the more important given full threat that russia could use chemical weapons and its illegal war in ukraine. in syria, we know the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons has not received certain requested information from syria and the deployment of the op cw declaration assessment team has been delayed because of difficulties acquiring visas to enter syria. assistant secretary of state barbara leaf, what is your department doing to get an inspection team into syria to verify the elimination of syria's declared and non-declared chemical weapons role? >> thank you for that question. there is no doubt that the

bashar al-assad regime retention of the capability of using these terrifying weapons against its own public has to remain a top priority, is a top priority. i will commit to you that i will put my own personal efforts to that end to clear the way for this team to get into syria and do its work. >> we had to put special emphasis on it given the implications for ukraine because there's complete uncertainty as to the sustainability, desperation could breed actions that are otherwise unacceptable. deputy assistant secretary dana stroul, according to the observatory for human rights, 40,000 syrians registered to fight on behalf of russia in ukraine and deployment is now beginning. is there anything the united states and its partners can do to prevent thousands and thousands of syrian mercenaries from successfully transiting to ukraine?

>> thank you for that question. we have seen the open source reporting about large numbers of syrians being relocated by russia to the ukraine theater of war. we've not seen large-scale movements like that on the ground. if there are smaller groups here and there, fine but we've not seen in our intelligence assessment does not see large-scale movement. we are continuing to monitor that closely. >> the 40,000 number has not translated in ukraine, into operational -- >> that is what i am saying. i also think it is important to take note of the massive amounts of disinformation and misinformation in the environment by russia both in the syrian theater and the ukraine theater. >> the disinformation you are referring to is that there are syrian troops there or there are not syrian troops? >> we've not seen indications

of large, tens of thousands of forces from syrian fighters being moved to ukraine, that is disinformation. >> thank you. that is helpful, thank you. >> with thanks to the committee, both of you to your testimony, we look forward to continuing engagement, there are a dozen members who came here so this is a topic of great significance. you are both excused, thank you. for the purposes of the committee's information, the chair's intention to move through the second panel, to hear their testimony and then we will see how far we can get to questions and as we call upon them to join us in the hearing room we will introduce them. after 11 years of conflict, syria remains as far as ever from a durable solution to the conflict that will allow syrians to live in peace and dignity in those 11 years. one of the few confidents has

been the bashar al-assad regime's treatment of fellow civilians with support and participation of russia and iran. from barrel bombs and double tap airstrikes and first responder to the regime's industrial scale torture and murder of dissidents, actors and their family members and the network of detention facilities. the numbers give a grim accounting of the suffering unleashed on syrians by the regime the claim to govern them. half half-million killed, 7 million internally displaced, 6.6 million registered as refugees around the world. more than half of syria's prewar population. 14.6 million inside syria need humanitarian assistance but the numbers alone don't provide a full sense of the horrors inflicted by the regime or the imports of holding bashar al-assad and his siberian cronies accountable for the crimes against its people. we would like to well, man

known only as "the gravedigger" who provide harrowing and courageous eyewitness account of the regime's atrocities and its attempt to literally bury the evidence of those crimes by burying its victims in mass graves. we normally ask witnesses to limit their spoken testimony to 5 minutes, we have agreed to allow "the gravedigger" 10 minutes for his opening statement to allow the full weight of his testimony to be felt. i would also like to welcome professor mileno sterio, the griswold professor of law at the cleveland marshall college of law. an expert on international criminal law and human rights law. she has written extensively on atrocity, accountability and its application to the syrian conflict in particular. thank you for joining us today. with that we will recognize both of your statements will be

fully included for the record. with that we will recognize "the gravedigger" for his remarks. >> thank you, chairman menendez. thank you chairman, melinda's and ranking member rich for holding this hearing and thank you for inviting me to speak. i am honored to give testimony before this storied committee. thank you for giving me a chance to bring my voice to the united states congress, government and most importantly the american people whose democracy inspired our revolution in syria a decade ago. on march 11th, 2020, the military photographer and defector caesar shared his

story with you. a 3 day he photographed bodies that had been detained, tortured, murdered in the syrian regime dungeons, the signs of torture were clear, the photographs were on display in front of your honorable committee. you saw it with your own eyes, innocent civilians experiencing the most brutal methods of torture. burning, strangulation, sodomy and ultimately death all for daring to dream of a free syria. now over two years later nothing has changed in syria. the bashar al-assad regime is no less brutal, the syrian people are no less at risk. how many more times does a witness to war crimes need to sit in front of you and describe the horrors of the bashar al-assad regime. i hope by sharing my story it may spark something inside you and maybe renew hope for the future of syria. every time i tell my story it takes a toll on me but all i

have is my voice and i will speak until i can't anymore. i was witness to mass graves in syria from 2011 to 2,018 where men and women, children and elderly were tortured, executed, gassed and bombed by the bashar al-assad regime and thrown into trenches, their fate unknown to loved ones. their lives have been lost. they cannot be saved it. they demand accountability the reason i am sharing my story today is to tell you that they are digging mass graves right now to bury more victims of bashar al-assad, iran, and russia. i am a civilian. before the war i was an administrative employee of the damascus municipality. my job was to help families make final preparations for their loved ones passing. each funeral was dignified with religious prayers and rituals

and all were properly laid to rest. family members were given an opportunity to say goodbye in the sanctity of every grave was respected. in 2,011 my office was visited by regime intelligence officials and i was ordered to work for them and when the regime asked for something you don't say no. i was not prepared for the horror of my duties. every week, twice a week, 3 trailer trucks arrived backed with 300 to 600 bodies of victims of torture, bombardment and slaughter. twice a week, three to four pickup trucks with 30 to 40 bodies of civilians that had been executed arrived for disposal in the most inhumane way. after 7 years of bearing witness to these atrocities, thanks to god and the ineptitude of the regime i was

able to escape syria and follow my family to europe. there it was not only my duty but my honor to testify and seek some semblance of justice to hold war criminals accountable for the ongoing atrocities in syria. i've never been able to forget what i saw. the countless bodies i buried. it keeps me up at night and i will never sleep soundly carrying this burden, no one should because these massacres are still happening. there are, according to conservative estimates, 150,000 missing and unaccounted for syrians. their families have no closure, holding out hope to any bit of information. my heart is heavy with the knowledge that many are at this moment experiencing inhumane torture at the hands of the bashar al-assad regime, some i know exactly where they are piled up into mass graves that

are still being doug today. i know this because others who worked with me on the mass graves have very recently escaped and confirmed what we have been hearing. the syrian people suffered enough. over 11 years of war hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians of not just been executed but start, tortured, raped, burned, and murdered in the most sadistic way anyone can imagine. women, children, elderly, innocent people slowly tortured to death, screaming in the darkness while the world looks the other way. those lucky enough not to be imprisoned live in fear every day. fear being targeted by comical weapons, cluster bombs, among those murdered are americans including journalists, humanitarian workers, i will never forget how isis forces ridiculed and laughed about the fact that they tortured, murdered and buried americans and europeans too.

as the leader of the free world america should set the example and live up to its values, the international order depends on this. when the international community fails to condemn crimes against humanity, genocidal massacres, the bombardment of hospitals and schools, and forced disappearances and detention, criminal regimes will continue to push limits unhindered. russia by its own admission tested 200 weapons on civilians in syria, the international community looked the other way and now russia is using those same weapons and tactics in ukraine that it honed in 7 years waging war against the syrian people. where is the line? it was not the line in syria. the playbook of these tyrants is written and i fear the worst for the ukrainian people. enabling isis enables a letter of putting, stopping bashar

al-assad hurts the russian dictator. we must finally learn from the past and not let this never again moment happen yet again. i lived with death for twee 7 years, with dead bodies and soulless intelligence officers, it might seem unimaginable to you so let me share the horrors that have never left my mind. one day, one of the trailer trucks with hundreds of bodies dumped its contents, dead, mangled corpses into the trench in front of us. unexpectedly we saw a flicker of movement, there was a man you death but still alive desperately using his last reserve of energy to signal to us that somehow he was still alive. one of the civilian workers started crying, said that we had to do something. the intelligence officer supervising us ordered the bulldozer driver to run him

over, the driver could not hesitate or else he would have been next. he ran over the man in the trenches, killing him which as for the young man in our workshop who dared should tears over the victim of bashar al-assad's regime, we never saw him again. i was told to visit a farm of an intelligence officer, there were 10 intelligence officers, they were eating and drinking alcohol, more surprisingly there were over 15 young men handcuffed, blindfolded and naked on the ground. one of them ordered them to untied the civilian and let them go, the blindfold and handcuffs were removed and i remember the confusion and fear in young men's eyes, an intelligence officer asked what they were waiting for to the young man, he told them to run and they took off. then another officer grabbed

his rifle and picked the young men off one by one, every last one was murdered and bashar al-assad's officers continued with their festivities. i buried so many children tortured to death and i remember them all. i buried a mother still holding her infant to her breasts as their lifeless bodies were thrown into the trench along with the others and one day i was at ability hospital where the parties are processed before being sent to the mass graves, there was the body of a little girl, only 6 or 7 years old. her lifeless body showed signs of terrible torture. the doctor at the hospital took me aside and told me he was ordered to write that she died of cardiac arrest but in reality she had died as she was being continuously and horrifically raped by 11 bashar al-assad regime intelligence

officers. as members of the united states senate, you all have the power to change the world, by sharing my story, i am taking this burden off of my shoulders and sharing it with you all. this is now on your shoulders, on your conscience, take heed of what is happening in syria. hundreds of thousands have already been murdered and disappeared and millions displaced, the worst is still yet to come. it can be prevented but i beg of you do not wait a second longer. i beg of you to take action. recently i was contacted by a bulldozer driver that worked during the same time i worked there. there is a video i would like to submit for the record, thank you. >> that is the same video that was asked for consent and was included in the record. thank you very much,

"gravedigger". mileno sterio, you are recognized. >> good morning, chairman menendez, ranking member rich and members of the committee. it is an honor to testify before you today. it is also a privilege to share this platform with the other individuals testifying before the committee, and especially "the gravedigger". the conflict in syria has continued over the past 11 years and has resulted in the commission of countless atrocities such as mass executions, widespread raids, systematic torture and repeated use of chemical weapons against civilians. these crimes require prosecution from a global deterrence standpoint, in light of the ongoing conflict in ukraine and the ordering of atrocities thereby russian leaders, establishing accountability for those order the commission of atrocity crimes whether in syria or

ukraine has become paramount. accountability options for the prosecution of syrian leaders range from prosecutions in the courts of syria and prosecutions in the national courts of various countries under the principle of universal jurisdiction to the establishment of a hybrid tribunal for syria and prosecutions to the international criminal court to the hag and the netherlands. assuming there is a transition of leadership at some point in the future a new syrian regime may be interested in posing accountability on individuals associated with the bashar al-assad regime. examples of countries where domestic courts have investigated similar crimes after a change in the governing regime include a cambodia and colombia. if prosecutions were to occur in the syrian courts the international community including the united states could assist syria by supporting the establishment of specialized international chambers dedicated to the prosecution of atrocity crimes in the judicial system.

such domestic chambers, have been created erat, bosnia, and piracy, prosecutions in kenya, and in various national courts under universal jurisdiction. universal jurisdiction provides every state with the authority to prosecute limited predatory of offenses generally recognized as a universal concern regardless where the offense occurred, the nationality of the perpetrator or nationality of the victim. crimes over which universal jurisdiction extend include piracy, slavery, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture. in the context of the syrian conflict some national courts have already relied on the printable universal jurisdiction to initiate investigations and prosecutions. on january 13, 2022, the higher regional court in germany

convicted senior government official for crime against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison. in february 2021 the same german court convicted his codefendant and a new case is currently being prosecuted in the courts in frankfurt, germany. a number of other european states have begun prosecuting screen perpetrators bound in their territory and some of the states include france, sweden, switzerland, austria, and the netherlands. the establishment of a hybrid tribunal for syria. hybrid tribunal's combined element of international and national prosecutions and recent examples of these hybrid tribunals include the special court of sierra leone, the chambers of the courts of cambodia and special tribunal for lebanon. many have already advocated for the creation of a hybrid tribunal for syria. such a tribunal could be created through an agreement signed by the united nations general a similar secretary general and the government of syria or security council resolution.

both options are unlikely in the context of syria at the present but these options are important accountability avenues and should remain part of any future countability discussions regarding syria. fourth, prosecutions at the international, court, the icc is the only permanent international criminal court and it is located at the hague in the netherlands and has jurisdiction over genocide crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. .. of syria the ipc limited option serious not a member state and that the court has jurisdiction only in situation where the widget is this another member state for the crime takes place in the territory of the member state that court can only launch persecutions against individuals who committed crimes in but who are national member states. moreover, intake is can be referred to the icc to a security council resolution. any such resolution regarding syria is unlikely in light of the russian and chinese veto.

the icc is an important global accountability option at a theoretical level and its involvement in syria should continue to be explored. one idea is a group of human rights lawyers as recent events the argument crimes committed in syria haveen a link to jordan where many of the victims have fled to in order to create territorial jurisdiction for the court as jordan is a member state. as this test when has documented there's a pressing need to establish accountability for atrocities committed during the syria conflict. different accountability options as mentioned include prosecutions in syrian courts, national level prosecutions under the principle of universal jurisdiction, establishmenthm oa hybrid tribunal for syria as well as prosecutions at the international criminal court. it is time theon international community with support from the united states acts towards accountability composing accountability on syrian leaders is paramount in the wake of the ongoing conflict in ukraine and the commission of atrocities by russian forces.

it is crucial to establish accountability attaches to all those who order the commission atrocities whether they be located in syria or in ukraine. thank you. >> thank you. senator risch. >> first of all i want to think of witnesses for tests on here today. certainly these are hard to listen to but it's something that as i said before when this is over and it's not over and it's important we keep this in front of everyone. i am interested in the principle of universal jurisdiction. i think we are at the very early stages of what that will be in the overall scheme of things. it was interesting to see it think probably for the first time in the german prosecutions, but i suspect this body of law is going to grow and will be interesting to follow that. and that certainly will be an important aspect of our belief

of never again and our belief that it's not over until everyone has been held accountable that should be. thank you, mr. chair. >> thank you both for your testimony. ukraine is dominating the global headlines but scenery is a place where the laws of war and accountability have been flouted for years. the assad regime and the vladimir putin have made the violation of international humanitarian law the norm in syria, and the international community has largely failed when it comes to pursuing accountability for more than a decade of horrific violations in syria. so professor, i heard your exposition of the possibilities. one of the challenges truly frustrating obstacles to accountability is the frequent inability to take the perpetrators into custody because they remain outside of any relevant legal jurisdiction. can you explain even in the face of that what it is so important

to pursue these legal cases? obviously beyond the overriding importance of giving a voice and hope to the a victims of these crimes. are there tangible, diplomatic, political benefits to pursuing perpetrators even went apprehension seems unlikely, especially in a complex life syria? >> thank you for the question. absolutely it is important to pursue accountability. and before answer the question let me just add that these cases i mentioned in germany, and those particular cases the perpetrators were actually in germany, some of them had sought asylum in germany and were in german territory. germanan prosecutors realized ty were there and were able to capture that moment, if you will, and arrest them in germany and bring them to prosecution. some of these trials are able to be conducted because these countries mostly western european nations have actually found the perpetrators to be on their territory.

even in the absence of the ability to capture some of these individuals it is important to establish the principle of individual criminal responsibility for those who ordered commission of atrocities or for those who commit atrocities themselves. the short answer as to why it is the right thing to do with a slightly longer answer is that international law and international criminal law said number since the end of world war ii has established this principle of responsibility for those who commit these atrocity crimes. yet the reason this is important is from a global deterrence standpoint, leaders like vladimir putin probably today don't expect that they will face accountability someday but international criminal justice is patient and persistent, and many leaders have faced accountability for their actions many decades afterr they committed or ordered those actions to be committed. so it is important establish accountability for global deterrence because f it's the right thing to do because international law provides for

this principle of international criminal responsibility. >> thank you. finally, to the gravedigger, your testimony was both brave and moving. what do you think made a conviction possible in that case? [speaking in native tongue] >> i believe that the bravery of the victims and witnesses both the victims of the crimes of those that were arrested, that were arrested in germany and the bravery of witnesses thatve came forward is what helped bring about the conviction. >> we appreciate that and your testimony as to the horrors that assad has inflicted on his own people. it's riveting and i look forward

to looking to the video, even though i'm sure it will be rather consequential. we appreciate thel testimony of both of you. this record will remain open until the close w of business tomorrow, and with the thanks of the committee this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> this morning humanitarian response effort in ukraine is a subject of a committee had. witnesses include the founder of the world central kitchen along

with leaders of other humanitarian aid groups. live coverage at 9 a.m. eastern on c-span2, our free mobile video app c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span has unfiltered coverage of the u.s. response to russia's invasion of ukraine bringing you the latest on the president and other white house officials, the pentagon and the state department as well as congress. we have international perspectives from the united nations and statements from foreign leaders all on the c-span networks, the c-span now free mobile app, and c-span.org/ukraine, our web resource page where you can watch the latest videos on demand and follow tweets from journalists on the ground. go to c-span.org/ukraine. >> at least six presidents recorded conversations while in office. hear many of t