[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2121 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2121

  To restrict foreign assistance for countries providing sanctuary to 
   indicted war criminals who are sought for prosecution before the 
       International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 1997

  Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Hoyer, and Ms. Pelosi) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International 
 Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Banking and Financial 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To restrict foreign assistance for countries providing sanctuary to 
   indicted war criminals who are sought for prosecution before the 
       International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``War Crimes Prosecution Facilitation 
Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) In May 1993, the United Nations established the 
        International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
            (2) The mandate of the Tribunal is to prosecute ``genocide, 
        crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva 
        Conventions, and violations of the laws and customs of war'' 
        committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia from 
        January 1, 1991, until ``a date to be determined after 
        restoration of peace''.
            (3) Parties to the Dayton Agreement, as well as subsequent 
        agreements, agreed to cooperate fully with the ``investigation 
        and prosecution of war crimes and other violations of 
        international humanitarian law''. All members of the 
        international community are required by the Tribunal Statute to 
        cooperate in ``the identification and location of persons'', 
        ``the arrest or detention of persons'', and ``the surrender or 
        the transfer of the accused'' to the Tribunal.
            (4) Although 76 persons have been publicly indicted by the 
        Tribunal, 66 remain at large. Of those publicly indicted, there 
        are 51 Bosnian Serbs, 1 Croatian Serb, 3 Serbian Yugoslav Army 
        officers, 18 Bosnian Croats, and 3 Bosniacs.
            (5) Credible reports indicate that some of the indicted war 
        criminals are living in areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina that 
        are under the effective control of Croatia or Serbia-
        Montenegro. Many of the indicted war criminals have been 
        sighted living openly and freely in Croatia, the Croat-
        controlled areas of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
        Republika Srpska, and Serbia-Montenegro.
            (6) An estimated 2,000,000 persons have been forced from 
        their homes by the war, many of whom remain displaced and 
        unable to return to their homes, in violation of the Dayton 
        Accords, because their homes are in a jurisdiction controlled 
        by a different ethnic group.
            (7) The fighting in Bosnia has ceased for more than a year, 
        and international efforts are now focused on the economic 
        reconstruction and implementation of the civilian aspects of 
        the Dayton Accords.
            (8) The International Bank for Reconstruction and 
        Development, the European Bank for Reconstruction and 
        Development, the International Monetary Fund, and individual 
        donor countries, including the United States, have begun 
        disbursing funds toward meeting an identified goal of 
        $5,100,000,000 for reconstruction of Bosnia.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be 
        achieved if indicted war criminals remain at large and refugees 
        and displaced persons are unable to return to their homes;
            (2) reconstruction without reconciliation will not be 
        effective in ensuring stability in the long run because, absent 
        individual accountability, victimized communities will assign 
        collective responsibility, thus perpetuating the cycle of 
        hatred; and
            (3) the Government of the United States should ensure that 
        multilateral and bilateral assistance is provided to parties to 
        the Dayton Agreement only if doing so would promote 
        reconciliation as well as reconstruction, including the 
        transfer of war criminals to the Tribunal, the return of 
        refugees and displaced persons, and freedom of movement.
    (b) Additional Provision.--It is further the sense of the Congress 
that the Tribunal, consistent with its mandate, should continue to 
investigate and bring indictments against persons who have violated 
international humanitarian law.

SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON FUNDING.

    (a) Bilateral Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--No assistance may be provided under the 
        Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or the Arms Export Control Act 
        for any country described in subsection (d).
            (2) Application to prior appropriations.--The prohibition 
        on assistance contained in paragraph (1) includes the provision 
        of assistance from funds appropriated prior to the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
    (b) Multilateral Assistance.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
instruct the United States executive directors of the international 
financial institutions to work in opposition to, and vote against, any 
extension by such institutions of any financial or technical assistance 
or grants of any kind to any country described in subsection (d).
    (c) Exceptions.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), subsections (a) 
        and (b) shall not apply to the provision of--
                    (A) humanitarian assistance;
                    (B) democratization assistance; or
                    (C) assistance for physical infrastructure projects 
                involving activities in both a sanctioned country and 
                nonsanctioned contiguous countries, if the 
                nonsanctioned countries are the primary beneficiaries.
            (2) Further limitations.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1)--
                    (A) no assistance may be made available under the 
                Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or the Arms Export 
                Control Act for a program, project, or activity in any 
                country described in subsection (d) in which an 
                indicted war criminal has any financial or material 
                interest or through any organization with which the 
                indicted individual is affiliated; and
                    (B) no assistance (other than emergency food or 
                medical assistance or demining assistance) may be made 
                available under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or 
                the Arms Export Control Act to any program, project, or 
                activity in any area in any country described in 
                subsection (d) in which local authorities are not 
                complying with the provisions of Article IX and Annex 
                4, Article II of the Dayton Agreement relating to war 
                crimes and the Tribunal, or with the provisions of 
                Annex 7 of the Dayton Agreement relating to the right 
                of refugees and displaced persons to return to their 
homes of origin.
    (d) Sanctioned Countries.--A country described in this section is a 
country the authorities of which fail to apprehend and transfer to the 
Tribunal all persons who have been indicted by the Tribunal and are in 
a territory that is under the effective control of those authorities.
    (e) Waiver.--
            (1) Authority.--The President may waive the application of 
        subsection (a) or subsection (b) with respect to a country if 
        the President determines and certifies to the appropriate 
        committees of Congress within six months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act that a majority of the indicted persons 
        who are within a territory that is under the effective control 
        of the country have been arrested and transferred to the 
        Tribunal.
            (2) Period of effectiveness.--Any waiver made pursuant to 
        this subsection shall be effective for a period of six months.
    (f) Termination of Sanctions.--The sanctions imposed pursuant to 
subsection (a) or subsection (b) with respect to a country shall cease 
to apply only if the President determines and certifies to Congress 
that the authorities of that country have apprehended and transferred 
to the Tribunal all persons who have been indicted by the Tribunal and 
are in a territory that is under the effective control of those 
authorities.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) Country.--The term ``country'' shall not include the 
        state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the provisions of this Act 
        shall be applied separately to its constituent entities of 
        Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
            (2) Dayton agreement.--The term ``Dayton Agreement'' means 
        the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and 
        Herzegovina, together with annexes relating thereto, done at 
        Dayton, November 10 through 16, 1995.
            (3) Democratization assistance.--The term ``democratization 
        assistance'' includes electoral assistance and assistance used 
        in establishing the institutions of a democratic and civil 
        society.
            (4) Humanitarian assistance.--The term ``humanitarian 
        assistance'' includes disaster and food assistance and 
        assistance for demining, refugees, housing, education, health 
        care, and other social services.
            (5) Tribunal.--The term ``Tribunal'' means the 
        International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
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