[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 179 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 179

 Relating to the indictment and prosecution of Saddam Hussein for war 
               crimes and other crimes against humanity.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 23, 1998

 Mr. Specter submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Relating to the indictment and prosecution of Saddam Hussein for war 
               crimes and other crimes against humanity.

Whereas the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was convened to try 
        individuals for crimes against international law during World War II;
Whereas the Nuremberg tribunal provision which held that ``crimes against 
        international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities, and 
        only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can the provisions 
        of international law be enforced'' is as valid today as it was in 1946;
Whereas, on August 2, 1990, and without provocation, Iraq initiated a war of 
        aggression against the sovereign state of Kuwait;
Whereas the Charter of the United Nations imposes on its members the obligations 
        to ``refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of 
        force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any 
        state'';
Whereas the leaders of the Government of Iraq, a country which is a member of 
        the United Nations, did violate this provision of the United Nations 
        Charter;
Whereas the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in 
        Times of War (the Fourth Geneva Convention) imposes certain obligations 
        upon a belligerent State, occupying another country by force of arms, in 
        order to protect the civilian population of the occupied territory from 
        some of the ravages of the conflict;
Whereas both Iraq and Kuwait are parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention;
Whereas the public testimony of witnesses and victims has indicated that Iraqi 
        officials violated Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention by their 
        inhumane treatment and acts of violence against the Kuwaiti civilian 
        population;
Whereas the public testimony of witnesses and victims has indicated that Iraqi 
        officials violated Articles 31 and 32 of the Fourth Geneva Convention by 
        subjecting Kuwaiti civilians to physical coercion, suffering and 
        extermination in order to obtain information;
Whereas, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, from January 18, 1991, to 
        February 25, 1991, Iraq did fire 39 missiles on Israel in 18 separate 
        attacks with the intent of making it a party to war and with the intent 
        of killing or injuring innocent civilians, killing 2 persons directly, 
        killing 12 people indirectly (through heart attacks, improper use of gas 
        masks, choking), and injuring more than 200 persons;
Whereas Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that persons 
        committing ``grave breaches'' are to be apprehended and subjected to 
        trial;
Whereas, on several occasions, the United Nations Security Council has found 
        Iraq's treatment of Kuwaiti civilians to be in violation of 
        international law;
Whereas, in Resolution 665, adopted on August 25, 1990, the United Nations 
        Security Council deplored ``the loss of innocent life stemming from the 
        Iraq invasion of Kuwait'';
Whereas, in Resolution 670, adopted by the United Nations Security Council on 
        September 25, 1990, it condemned further ``the treatment by Iraqi forces 
        on Kuwait nationals and reaffirmed that the Fourth Geneva Convention 
        applied to Kuwait'';
Whereas, in Resolution 674, the United Nations Security Council demanded that 
        Iraq cease mistreating and oppressing Kuwaiti nationals in violation of 
        the Convention and reminded Iraq that it would be liable for any damage 
        or injury suffered by Kuwaiti nationals due to Iraq's invasion and 
        illegal occupation;
Whereas Iraq is a party to the Prisoners of War Convention and there is evidence 
        and testimony that during the Persian Gulf War, Iraq violated articles 
        of the Convention by its physical and psychological abuse of military 
        and civilian POW's including members of the international press;
Whereas Iraq has committed deliberate and calculated crimes of environmental 
        terrorism, inflicting grave risk to the health and well-being of 
        innocent civilians in the region by its willful ignition of 732 Kuwaiti 
        oil wells in January and February, 1991;
Whereas President Clinton found ``compelling evidence'' that the Iraqi 
        Intelligence Service directed and pursued an operation to assassinate 
        former President George Bush in April 1993 when he visited Kuwait;
Whereas Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi officials have systematically attempted 
        to destroy the Kurdish population in Iraq through the use of chemical 
        weapons against civilian Kurds, campaigns in 1987-88 which resulted in 
        the disappearance of more than 182,000 persons and the destruction of 
        more than 4,000 villages, the placement of more than 10 million 
        landmines in Iraqi Kurdistan, and ethnic cleansing in the city of 
        Kirkuk;
Whereas the Republic of Iraq is a signatory to international agreements 
        including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International 
        Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Prevention 
        and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the POW Convention, and is 
        obligated to comply with these international agreements;
Whereas section 8 of Resolution 687 of the United Nations Security Council, 
        adopted on April 3, 1991, requires Iraq to ``unconditionally accept the 
        destruction, removal, or rendering harmless, under international 
        supervision of all chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of 
        agents and all related subsystems and components and all research, 
        development, support, and manufacturing facilities'';
Whereas Saddam Hussein and the Republic of Iraq have persistently and flagrantly 
        violated the terms of Resolution 687 with respect to elimination of 
        weapons of mass destruction and inspections by international 
        supervisors;
Whereas there is good reason to believe that Iraq continues to have stockpiles 
        of chemical and biological munitions, missiles capable of transporting 
        such agents, and the capacity to produce such weapons of mass 
        destruction, putting the international community at risk;
Whereas, on February 22, 1993, the United Nations Security Council adopted 
        Resolution 808 establishing an international tribunal to try individuals 
        accused of violations of international law in the former Yugoslavia;
Whereas, on November 8, 1994, the United Nations Security Council adopted 
        Resolution 955 establishing an international tribunal to try individuals 
        accused of the commission of violations of international law in Rwanda;
Whereas more than 70 individuals have faced indictments handed down by the 
        International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague 
        for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia, 
        leading in the first trial to the sentencing of a Serb jailer to 20 
        years in prison;
Whereas the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has indicted 31 
        individuals, with three trials occurring at present and 27 individuals 
        in custody;
Whereas a failure to try and punish leaders and other persons for crimes against 
        international law establishes a dangerous precedent and negatively 
        impacts the value of deterrence to future illegal acts;
Whereas, on February 17, 1998, the President of the United States outlined his 
        policy on engaging in a military action against Iraq and stated that his 
        purpose is ``to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of 
        mass destruction program'' and further stated that if a United States 
        military operation does not prevent Saddam Hussein from rebuilding his 
        weapons of mass destruction, future military strikes will be necessary;
Whereas current plans are grossly inadequate because it is insufficient to 
        ``seriously diminish'' the threat posed by Saddam Hussein to the 
        international community through the use of weapons of mass destruction; 
        and
Whereas there is a need for a long-term approach to removing Saddam Hussein from 
        his position as President of Iraq: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the President should--
            (1) call for the creation of a commission under the 
        auspices of the United Nations to establish an international 
        record of the criminal culpability of Saddam Hussein and other 
        Iraqi officials;
            (2) call for the United Nations to form an international 
        criminal tribunal for the purpose of indicting, prosecuting, 
        and imprisoning Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi officials who 
        are responsible for crimes against humanity, genocide, and 
        other violations of international law; and
            (3) devise a long-term plan, in consultation with allies of 
        the United States, for the removal of Saddam Hussein from his 
        position as President of Iraq, so that he can be prosecuted 
        fully for war crimes and other violations of international law.
                                 <all>