[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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