[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 144 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 144

Urging the United States Government and the United Nations to undertake 
  urgent and strenuous efforts to secure the release of Branko Jelen, 
Steve Pratt, and Peter Wallace, 3 humanitarian workers employed in the 
  Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by CARE International, who are being 
unjustly held as prisoners by the Government of the Federal Republic of 
                              Yugoslavia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 29, 1999

 Mr. Gilman (for himself, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Gejdenson, Ms. Pelosi, Ms. 
     Slaughter, and Mrs. Capps) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Urging the United States Government and the United Nations to undertake 
  urgent and strenuous efforts to secure the release of Branko Jelen, 
Steve Pratt, and Peter Wallace, 3 humanitarian workers employed in the 
  Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by CARE International, who are being 
unjustly held as prisoners by the Government of the Federal Republic of 
                              Yugoslavia.

Whereas Branko Jelen, Steve Pratt, and Peter Wallace are 3 humanitarian workers 
        employed in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by CARE International, 
        the relief and development organization, providing food, medicines, and 
        fuel to more than 50,000 Serbian refugees in Serbia and to displaced 
        ethnic Albanians in Kosovo;
Whereas Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, 2 Australian nationals, were detained on 
        March 31, 1999, and later accused of operating and managing a spy ring 
        and being employed by a spy ring, and Branko Jelen, a citizen of the 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was arrested 1 week later on the same 
        charges;
Whereas on March 30, 1999, CARE International received a letter of commendation 
        from the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia relating to 
        CARE International's humanitarian work in the Federal Republic of 
        Yugoslavia;
Whereas 1 of the 3 men, Steve Pratt, appeared on Serbian television on April 11, 
        1999, and he was coerced into saying that he had performed covert 
        intelligence activities;
Whereas the 3 Care International humanitarian workers were held without access 
        to outsiders for 20 days;
Whereas on May 29, 1999, a Serbian military court dismissed every element of the 
        original indictment against the 3 CARE International humanitarian 
        workers, but then proceeded to convict the 3 individuals on an entirely 
        new charge of passing on information to a foreign organization, namely 
        CARE International, and sentenced Pratt to 12 years, Jelen to 6 years, 
        and Wallace to 4 years;
Whereas this last charge was introduced at the reading of the verdict, denying 
        lawyers for the 3 CARE International humanitarian workers any 
        opportunity to mount an appropriate defense;
Whereas it appears the 3 CARE International humanitarian workers were convicted 
        of providing ``situation reports'' to their head office and other CARE 
        International offices around the world, based on legitimately gathered 
        information, necessary to enable CARE International management to plan 
        their humanitarian assistance in a rapidly changing context and to 
        inform CARE International management of the security situation in which 
        their staff were working;
Whereas the convictions of the 3 CARE International humanitarian workers raise 
        serious questions regarding the ability of humanitarian aid 
        organizations to operate in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with 
        implications for their operations in other areas of conflict around the 
        world;
Whereas the 3 CARE International humanitarian workers are innocent, having 
        committed no crime, and are being held as prisoners unjustly;
Whereas the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia needs humanitarian workers who feel 
        secure enough to do their work and who are not at risk of going to 
        prison on false charges; and
Whereas many leaders around the world have raised the issue and sought to free 
        the captives, including United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, 
        former South African President Nelson Mandela, Finnish President Marti 
        Ahtisaari, United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, 
        and the Reverend Jesse Jackson: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) urges the United States Government and the United 
        Nations to undertake urgent and strenuous efforts to secure the 
        release of Branko Jelen, Steve Pratt, and Peter Wallace, 3 
        humanitarian workers employed in the Federal Republic of 
        Yugoslavia by CARE International; and
            (2) calls upon the Government of the Federal Republic of 
        Yugoslavia to send a positive signal to the international 
        humanitarian community and to give these humanitarian workers 
        their freedom without further delay.
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