[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 35 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 35
Expressing the sense of the Senate concerning systematic rape in the
conflict in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslovia.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 26 (legislative day, January 5), 1993
Mr. Lautenberg (for himself, Mr. Dole, Ms. Murray, Mr. Durenberger, Mr.
Kennedy, Mr. Leahy, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. Pressler, Mr. Reid, Mr. Campbell,
Mr. Pell, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Riegle, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Bradley, and Mr.
Sasser) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate concerning systematic rape in the
conflict in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslovia.
Whereas the State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1992
states that ``massive systematic rape, committed by Bosnian Serb
military units and prison guards was used as an extension of `ethnic
cleansing' to terrify the population'';
Whereas a report by a European Community investigative team estimates that
20,000 women have been raped since the onset of hostilities;
Whereas women are protected against ``any attack on their honour, in particular
against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of indecent assault''
under Article 27 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949, and are protected against
``outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and
degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution, and any form of
indecent assault,'' under Article 4 of Protocol II Additional to the
Geneva Convention, 1977;
Whereas ``inhumane acts'' are considered ``crimes against humanity'' under the
London Agreement that established the guidelines for the Nuremberg
Trials, and ``torture or inhumane treatment'' and ``willfully causing
great suffering or serious injury to body or health'' are considered
``grave breaches'' of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection
of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949, under Article 147 of that
Convention;
Whereas rape is a deplorable and illegal act of violence in the United States
and in every country in Europe;
Whereas systematic rape in the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been denounced
under United Nations Security Council Resolution 798 (1992) and by the
Council of Ministers of the European Community in its declaration of
December 11, 1992;
Whereas former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger denounced atrocities in
this conflict and named individuals that should stand trial in an
international court for ``crimes against humanity'';
Whereas on August 11, 1992, the Senate approved Senate Resolution 330,
expressing the sense of the Senate that the United Nations Security
Council should convene a tribunal to investigate allegations of war
crimes and crimes against humanity committed within the territory of the
former Yugoslavia and to accumulate evidence, to charge, and to prepare
the basis for trying individuals believed to have committed or to have
been responsible for such crimes; and
Whereas the United Nations Commission of Experts has been appointed to collect
information and evidence for the eventual establishment of an
international tribunal to prosecute war crimes under international law
that are committed in this conflict: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That (a) the Senate considers--
(1) rape, whether individual or mass rape, to be an
unacceptable means of warfare; and
(2) rape and forced pregnancy to be ``crimes against
humanity'' under international law, regardless of the ethnicity
or religion of the victims or the perpetrators, and considers
that such offenses should be so recognized in any international
tribunal to try perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war
crimes.
(b) The Senate strongly condemns the systematic and widespread rape
of women and girls in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
(c) The Senate commends--
(A) former Secretary of State Eagleburger for denouncing
``crimes against humanity'' in the conflict in Bosnia-
Herzegovina and for calling for an international crimes
tribunal to prosecute such crimes; and
(B) the adoption of United Nations Security Council
Resolution 798 (1992) and the declaration of December 11, 1992,
of the Council of Ministers of the European Community, both of
which denounced the systematic rape of Moslem women in this
conflict.
(d) It is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the President of the United States should--
(A) publicly condemn systematic rape in this
conflict,
(B) state that rape, whether individual or mass
rape, and forced pregnancy, as tactics of war, are
crimes against humanity and war crimes, and
(C) vigorously support the establishment by the
United Nations of an international tribunal to
prosecute crimes against humanity and war crimes;
(2) the President of the United States should publicly
declare that the United States will offer no safe haven to war
criminals;
(3) all countries and organizations participating in
humanitarian relief efforts in the former Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia should allocate resources for the
treatment of rape victims, including the training of relief
workers in the medical and psychological effects of rape;
(4) all parties to the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina
should immediately take steps to protect the rights of women
and girls as recognized in the Geneva Conventions and,
specifically, to protect them from rape, forced pregnancy, and
the infliction of other indignities; and
(5) the President of the United States should urge the
United Nations to provide adequate funding for the United
Nations Commission of Experts and an international tribunal for
the full investigation and prosecution of rape.
Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this
resolution to the President of the United States and the Secretary
General of the United Nations.
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