[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 35 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 35

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
                          Bosnia-Hercegovina.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 21, 1993

  Mr. Hoyer (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, and Mr. McCloskey) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
                          Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Whereas Bosnia-Hercegovina is a sovereign and independent state, a member of the 
        United Nations, a participating state of the Conference on Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe;
Whereas the leaders of Bosnia-Hercegovina have committed themselves to practice 
        tolerance and to live together in peace with neighboring states in 
        keeping with the Charter of the United Nations and to promote human 
        rights and democracy pursuant to the Helsinki Final Act of the 
        Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe;
Whereas the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina have been and remain the target of 
        armed aggression by Serbia and Serbian-backed forces;
Whereas the loss of life and human suffering in Bosnia-Hercegovina has reached 
        an unprecedented scale in post-World War II Europe;
Whereas the war and ``ethnic cleansing'' in Bosnia-Hercegovina has uprooted more 
        than 1,500,000 people, contributing to the largest refugee problem in 
        Europe since World War II;
Whereas the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina have been subjected to organized, 
        systematic, and premeditated war crimes and genocide, including willful 
        killings, rape, forced impregnation, abuse of civilians in detention 
        centers, deliberate attacks on noncombatants, ``ethnic cleansing'' 
        through forcible expulsion and deportation of civilians, and torture of 
        prisoners;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council has reaffirmed that persons who 
        commit or order the commission of grave breaches of the Geneva 
        Conventions are individually responsible in respect to such breaches;
Whereas the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international 
        humanitarian organizations have not been granted unimpeded and 
        continuous access to all camps, prisons, and detention centers in 
        Bosnia-Hercegovina as called for by the United Nations Security Council;
Whereas efforts by United Nations humanitarian organizations and others to 
        secure the effective and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian supplies to 
        all victims of the war in Bosnia-Hercegovina have been repeatedly 
        blocked;
Whereas numerous diplomatic efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the war in 
        Bosnia-Hercegovina have failed to bring about a cessation of 
        hostilities;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council has demanded that neighboring states 
        respect the territorial integrity of Bosnia-Hercegovina;
Whereas irregular forces have failed to disband, disarm, or place their weapons 
        under effective international monitoring;
Whereas Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations provides for the right 
        of individual and collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs 
        against a member state;
Whereas Bosnia-Hercegovina's right to defend itself against attack by well armed 
        forces has been thwarted by the existing international arms embargo;
Whereas incursions of the airspace of Bosnia-Hercegovina by hostile military 
        aircraft continue to occur in violation of the establishment of a ``no-
        fly'' zone by the United Nations Security Council; and
Whereas United Nations Security Council resolutions on a ``no-fly'' zone, the 
        transfer of all heavy weapons to international control, the delivery of 
        humanitarian assistance, and access to all camps, prisons, and detention 
        centers in Bosnia-Hercegovina have not been fully implemented or 
        enforced: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the United States should act, without delay, to uphold 
        Bosnia-Hercegovina's right to self-defense as provided for 
        under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and to 
        seek the immediate lifting of the international arms embargo as 
        it applies to that country, thus enabling Bosnia-Hercegovina to 
        obtain defensive weapons;
            (2) the United States should assemble a multinational 
        coalition--
                    (A) to enforce immediately the United Nations ``no-
                fly'' zone over the territory of Bosnia-Hercegovina, 
                including through the use of military air force if 
                required;
                    (B) to ensure that irregular forces in Bosnia-
                Hercegovina either withdraw, be subject to the 
                authority of the Government of Bosnia-Hercegovina, or 
                be disbanded and disarmed with their weapons placed 
                under effective international monitoring (and in the 
                event that such steps are not taken by irregular forces 
                immediately, every effort, including the use of 
                military air force, should be made to neutralize heavy 
                arms in the hands of such forces);
                    (C) to ensure the immediate, effective, and 
                unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to all 
                civilian populations in Bosnia-Hercegovina, in keeping 
                with international commitments, including through the 
                use of military force, if required; and
                    (D) to ensure unimpeded access to all camps, 
                prisons, and detention centers in Bosnia-Hercegovina by 
                the International Committee of the Red Cross and other 
                international humanitarian organizations, and 
                facilitate the release of all detainees from such 
                facilities;
            (3) the United States should seek an increase in the number 
        of refugees from Bosnia-Hercegovina permitted to enter the 
        United States and other European countries; and
            (4) the United States should work to ensure that those 
        responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 
        Bosnia-Hercegovina are held accountable by an international 
        criminal tribunal.

                                 <all>