Title 22Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73

§8795 Termination

Title 22 › Chapter CHAPTER 94— - IRAN THREAT REDUCTION AND SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER VII— - SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN SYRIA › § 8795

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The rules and sanctions in this part end when the President sends two written statements to the right committees in Congress: one is the list of findings below, and the other says that Syria has either a democratically elected government that represents its people or a legitimate transitional government. The President’s list must say Syria has freed all political prisoners; stopped violence, unlawful detention, torture, and abuse of peaceful activists; stopped using or buying tech to censor or spy on people; stopped supporting foreign terrorist groups and no longer lets groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operate there; stopped developing medium‑ and long‑range surface‑to‑surface missiles; is not pursuing biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons and has given credible assurances it will not; and has agreed to let the United Nations and other international observers check these claims. If the President first certifies only that a democratic or transitional government is in place, he may pause the rules and sanctions for up to 180 days while the full list is prepared.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §8795

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The provisions of this subchapter and any sanctions imposed pursuant to this subchapter shall terminate on the date on which the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees—
(1)the certification described in subsection (b); and
(2)a certification that—
(A)the Government of Syria is democratically elected and representative of the people of Syria; or
(B)a legitimate transitional government of Syria is in place.
(b)A certification described in this subsection is a certification by the President that the Government of Syria—
(1)has unconditionally released all political prisoners;
(2)has ceased its practices of violence, unlawful detention, torture, and abuse of citizens of Syria engaged in peaceful political activity;
(3)has ceased its practice of procuring sensitive technology designed to restrict the free flow of unbiased information in Syria, or to disrupt, monitor, or otherwise restrict the right of citizens of Syria to freedom of expression;
(4)has ceased providing support for foreign terrorist organizations and no longer allows such organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to maintain facilities in territory under the control of the Government of Syria; and
(5)has ceased the development and deployment of medium- and long-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles;
(6)is not pursuing or engaged in the research, development, acquisition, production, transfer, or deployment of biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons, and has provided credible assurances that it will not engage in such activities in the future; and
(7)has agreed to allow the United Nations and other international observers to verify that the Government of Syria is not engaging in such activities and to assess the credibility of the assurances provided by that Government.
(c)If the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees the certification described in subsection (a)(2), the President may suspend the provisions of this subchapter and any sanctions imposed under this subchapter for not more than 180 days to allow time for a certification described in subsection (b) to be submitted.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This subchapter, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (c), was in the original a reference to title VII of Pub. L. 112–158, which enacted this subchapter and provisions set out as a note under section 8701 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 8795

Title 22Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73