[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 265 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 265

  Condemning the continued detention of Kosovar Albanians removed to 
  Serbia at the end of the 1999 Kosova conflict and calling for their 
                                release.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 6, 2000

Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. King, Mr. Olver, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Gejdenson, 
Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Porter, 
  Mr. Towns, Mr. Pallone, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Crowley, Mr. NcNulty, Mr. 
  Wolf, Mrs. Lowey, and Mr. Frost) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning the continued detention of Kosovar Albanians removed to 
  Serbia at the end of the 1999 Kosova conflict and calling for their 
                                release.

Whereas at the conclusion of the NATO campaign to halt the Serbian and Yugoslav 
        ethnic cleansing in Kosova, a large, but undetermined number of Kosovar 
        Albanians held in Serbian and Yugoslav prisons in Kosova were taken from 
        Kosova before and during the withdrawal of Serbian and Yugoslav police 
        and military forces from Kosova;
Whereas the Serbian Justice Ministry has admitted that roughly 2,000 prisoners 
        were brought to Serbia from Kosova in June 1999, while Serbian and 
        Yugoslav police and military forces were withdrawing from Kosova;
Whereas the number of Kosovar Albanians still held in Serbian or Yugoslav 
        prisons is unclear as a full list of names of those in detention has not 
        been released, but estimates have ranged from just over 1,000 to several 
        thousand still in detention;
Whereas on July 10, 1999, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for 
        Security and Cooperation in Europe, comprised of parliamentarians from 
        across Europe, the United States, and Canada, adopted a resolution 
        calling upon Serbia and Yugoslavia, in accordance with international 
        humanitarian law, to grant full, immediate and ongoing International 
        Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to all prisoners held in 
        relation to the Kosova crisis, to ensure the humane treatment of such 
        prisoners, and to arrange for the release of all such prisoners;
Whereas on July 21, 1999, the House of Representatives passed an amendment by a 
        unanimous vote of 424-0 which called upon the Governments of Serbia and 
        Yugoslavia to immediately account for all Kosovar Albanians in their 
        custody and return them to Kosova;
Whereas Dr. Flora Brovina, a Kosovar pediatrician and activist held by Serbia 
        whose clinic provided medical services to women and children, was 
        sentenced to 12 years in prison based, according to Amnesty 
        International, ``on self-incriminating statements which she signed under 
        duress'' and charges which Amnesty International characterized as 
        ``without foundation'';
Whereas on December 10, 1999, the Department of State ``condemn[ed] the 
        proceedings against Dr. Brovina'' and ``insist[ed] that the Belgrade 
        authorities account for, release, and return the thousands of Kosovar 
        Albanians that they are continuing to hold to Kosova and to their 
        families''; and
Whereas to date, only a few hundred Kosovar Albanians have been released from 
        Serb and Yugoslav prisons: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the Serbian and Yugoslav Governments should immediately 
        account for all Kosovar Albanians held in their prisons and 
        treat them in accordance with all applicable international 
        standards;
            (2) the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
        should be given full, immediate, and ongoing access to all 
        Kosovar Albanians held in Serbian and Yugoslav prisons;
            (3) all Kosovar Albanians now held in Serbian or Yugoslav 
        prisons should be released and any evidence against them turned 
        over to the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in 
        Kosova (UNMIK) for legal processing because neither the Serbian 
        nor Yugoslav judicial systems have jurisdiction over Kosova; 
        and
            (4) the United Nations Security Council should condemn the 
        continued detention of Kosovar Albanians in Serbian and 
        Yugoslav prisons and call for their return to Kosova.
                                 <all>