[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 304 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 304

   Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the culpability of 
    Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and 
       genocide in the former Yugoslavia, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 21, 1998

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Porter, Mr. 
    Rohrabacher, Mr. Engel, Mr. Olver, Mr. King, and Mr. McGovern) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the culpability of 
    Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and 
       genocide in the former Yugoslavia, and for other purposes.

Whereas there is reason to mark the beginning of the conflict in the former 
        Yugoslavia with Slobodan Milosevic's rise to power beginning in 1987, 
        when he whipped up and exploited extreme nationalism among Serbs, and 
        specifically in Kosovo, including support for violence against non-Serbs 
        who were labeled as threats;
Whereas there is reason to believe that as President of Serbia, Slobodan 
        Milosevic was responsible for the conception and direction of a war of 
        aggression, the deaths of hundreds of thousands, the torture and rape of 
        tens of thousands and the forced displacement of nearly 3,000,000 
        people, and that mass rape and forced impregnation were among the tools 
        used to wage this war;
Whereas ``ethnic cleansing'' has been carried out in the former Yugoslavia in 
        such a consistent and systematic way that it had to be directed by the 
        senior political leadership in Serbia, and Slobodan Milosevic has held 
        such power within Serbia that he is responsible for the conception and 
        direction of this policy;
Whereas, as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
        Montenegro), Slobodan Milosevic is responsible for the conception and 
        direction of assaults by Yugoslavian and Serbian military, security, 
        special police, and other forces on innocent civilians in Kosovo which 
        have so far resulted in an estimated 300 people dead or missing and the 
        forced displacement of tens of thousands, and such assaults continue;
Whereas on May 25, 1993, United Nations Security Council Resolution 827 created 
        the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia located in 
        The Hague, the Netherlands (hereafter in this resolution referred to as 
        the ``Tribunal''), and gave it jurisdiction over all crimes arising out 
        of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia;
Whereas this Tribunal has publicly indicted 60 people for war crimes or crimes 
        against humanity arising out of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia 
        and has issued a number of secret indictments that have only been made 
        public upon the apprehension of the indicted persons;
Whereas it is incumbent upon the United States and all other nations to support 
        the Tribunal, and the United States has done so by providing, since 
        1992, funding in the amount of $54,000,000 in assessed payments and more 
        than $11,000,000 in voluntary and in-kind contributions to the Tribunal 
        and the War Crimes Commission which preceded it, and by supplying 
        information collected by the United States that can aid the Tribunal's 
        investigations, prosecutions, and adjudications;
Whereas any lasting, peaceful solution to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia 
        must be based upon justice for all, including the most senior officials 
        of the government or governments responsible for conceiving, organizing, 
        initiating, directing, and sustaining the Yugoslav conflict and whose 
        forces have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide; 
        and
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic has been the single person who has been in the 
        highest government offices in an aggressor state since before the 
        inception of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, who has had the 
        power to decide for peace and instead decided for war, who has had the 
        power to minimize illegal actions by subordinates and allies and hold 
        responsible those who committed such actions, but did not, and who is 
        once again directing a campaign of ethnic cleansing against innocent 
        civilians in Kosovo while treating with contempt international efforts 
        to achieve a fair and peaceful settlement to the question of the future 
        status of Kosovo: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the United States should publicly declare that it 
        considers that there is reason to believe that Slobodan 
        Milosevic, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 
        (Serbia and Montenegro), has committed war crimes, crimes 
        against humanity and genocide;
            (2) the United States should make collection of information 
        that can be supplied to the Tribunal for use as evidence to 
        support an indictment and trial of President Slobodan Milosevic 
        for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide a high 
        priority;
            (3) any such information concerning President Slobodan 
        Milosevic already collected by the United States should be 
        provided to the Tribunal as soon as possible;
            (4) the United States should provide a fair share of any 
        additional financial or personnel resources that may be 
        required by the Tribunal in order to enable the Tribunal to 
        adequately address preparation for, indictment of, prosecution 
        of, and adjudication of allegations of war crimes and crimes 
        against humanity posed against President Slobodan Milosevic and 
        any other person arising from the conflict in the former 
        Yugoslavia, including in Kosovo;
            (5) the United States should engage with other members of 
        the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other interested 
        states in a discussion of information any such state may hold 
        relating to allegations of war crimes and crimes against 
        humanity posed against President Slobodan Milosevic and any 
        other person arising from the conflict in the former 
        Yugoslavia, including in Kosovo, and press such states to 
        promptly provide all such information to the Tribunal;
            (6) the United States should engage with other members of 
        the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other interested 
        states in a discussion of measures to be taken to apprehend 
        indicted war criminals and persons indicted for crimes against 
        humanity with the objective of concluding a plan of action that 
        will result in these indictees' prompt delivery into the 
        custody of the Tribunal; and
            (7) the United States should urge the Tribunal to promptly 
        review all information relating to President Slobodan 
        Milosevic's possible criminal culpability for conceiving, 
        directing, and sustaining a variety of actions in the former 
        Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, that have had the effect of 
        genocide, of other crimes against humanity, or of war crimes, 
        with a view toward prompt issuance of a public indictment of 
        Milosevic.
    Sec. 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transmit a 
copy of this resolution to the President.
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