[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 45 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 45

    Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning rape and forced 
         pregnancy of women and girls in the former Yugoslavia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 18, 1993

 Ms. Molinari (for herself, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Levy, Mr. 
Engel, Mr. Zeliff, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Wilson, Mr. King, 
Mr. Camp, Mrs. Meyers of Kansas, Mr. Towns, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. Smith of 
New Jersey, Mr. Torkildsen, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Goss, 
    Mr. Ewing, Mr. Crane, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Barrett, and Mr. Hunter) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning rape and forced 
         pregnancy of women and girls in the former Yugoslavia.

Whereas on December 18, 1992, the United Nations Security Council condemned the 
        rape of women in Bosnia citing ``massive, organized and systematic 
        detention and rape'', and specifically condemned ``atrocities committed 
        against women . . . in Bosnia and Herzegovina . . . '';
Whereas the United Nations Security Council has created a 5-member commission to 
        investigate war crimes in the former Yugoslavia;
Whereas at the conclusion of World War II, Nazis were tried in Nuremberg by an 
        international military tribunal which defined crimes against peace, war 
        crimes, and crimes against humanity as 3 categories of crimes within the 
        jurisdiction of such tribunal;
Whereas rape and forced pregnancy are commonly considered war crimes but not 
        explicitly recognized as such;
Whereas, although several Nazis committed or participated in rape or forced 
        pregnancy, none of these individuals was ever convicted of rape or 
        forced pregnancy;
Whereas Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that ``Women shall be 
        especially protected against any attack on their honor, in particular, 
        against rape, and forced prostitution, or any form of indecent 
        assault.'';
Whereas Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that ``Grave breeches 
        . . . shall be those involving any of the following acts, if committed 
        against persons or property protected by the present Convention: . . . 
        including torture or inhumane treatment . . . willfully causing great 
        suffering or serious injury to body or health . . . '';
Whereas such acts are qualified as war crimes by Additional Protocol 1 to 
        Article 147; and
Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture has recognized rape as 
        a form of torture, constituting an outrage on the personal dignity of 
        the individual: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the widespread rape and forced pregnancy of women and 
        girls in the former Yugoslavia constitute war crimes;
            (2) the United Nations Security Council and United Nations 
        Human Rights Commission should adopt resolutions explicitly 
        recognizing that rape and forced pregnancy constitute war 
        crimes;
            (3) such war crimes should be investigated by an 
        international tribunal;
            (4) such tribunal may be convened by the United Nations at 
        the highest level, and if such a tribunal is convened it should 
        be provided with clear authority to investigate, prosecute, 
        adjudicate, and punish those responsible for these and other 
        crimes;
            (5) the United Nations should appoint a special rapporteur 
        on sex discrimination and violence against women to--
                    (A) receive information from governmental and 
                nongovernmental entities and individuals on sex 
                discrimination and violence against women, including 
                rape and forced pregnancy;
                    (B) investigate individuals responsible for these 
                and other crimes; and
                    (C) receive information relating to measures to 
                prevent continuing violations of sex discrimination and 
                violence against women; and
            (6) the 1993 United Nations World Conference on Human 
        Rights, to be held in June 1993, should consider violations of 
        the human rights of women in its general discussions for the 
        purpose of improving the protections of such rights stated in 
        the Charter of the United Nations.

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