[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 143 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 143

     Relating to the prosecution of Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi 
 officials, military leaders, and citizens who may be responsible for 
      crimes against humanity, attempted genocide, and war crimes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 9, 2003

    Mr. Bradley of New Hampshire submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
     Relating to the prosecution of Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi 
 officials, military leaders, and citizens who may be responsible for 
      crimes against humanity, attempted genocide, and war crimes.

Whereas the Congress recognizes the necessity of ensuring a rapid and orderly 
        transition from conflict to peace and from tyranny to freedom and of 
        establishing and maintaining international peace and security in the 
        country of Iraq and the Persian Gulf region;
Whereas the Armed Forces of the United States and Great Britain, with the 
        assistance of allied coalition nations, have engaged in military 
        operations against the leadership of Iraq to disarm that regime of 
        weapons of mass destruction;
Whereas the Republic of Iraq is a party to the International Covenant on Civil 
        and Political Rights, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of 
        the Crime of Genocide and other human rights instruments, and the Geneva 
        Conventions of 1949, and is obligated to comply with these international 
        agreements;
Whereas the regime of Saddam Hussein has perpetrated a litany of human rights 
        abuses against the citizens of Iraq and other peoples of the region, 
        including summary and arbitrary executions, torture, cruel and inhumane 
        treatment, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, disappearances, and the 
        repression of freedom of speech, thought, expression, assembly, and 
        association;
Whereas Saddam Hussein and his regime have systematically attempted to destroy 
        the Kurdish population in Iraq through the use of chemical weapons 
        against civilian Kurds, the Anfal campaigns of 1987-1988 that 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 the continued ethnic cleansing of the 
        city of Kirkuk;
Whereas the Iraqi Government, under Saddam Hussein's leadership, has repressed 
        the Sunni tribes in western Iraq, destroyed Assyro-Chaldean churches and 
        villages, deported and executed Turkomen, massacred Shiites, and 
        destroyed the ancient Marsh Arab civilization through a massive act of 
        environmental destruction;
Whereas the Armed Forces of the United States and Great Britain have gathered 
        evidence of, been witness to, and endured, clear and irrefutable 
        violations of the laws of war perpetrated by the Saddam Hussein regime 
        and loyalists of that regime; and
Whereas upon the complete and unconditional surrender of the Iraqi Government, 
        those officers and members of the Saddam Hussein regime who have been 
        responsible for or have taken a consenting part in those atrocities, 
        massacres, and executions should be subject to prosecution by a special 
        court, and suspects of crimes committed against citizens in countries 
        that were victims of Iraqi aggression can participate in the judgment 
        and punishment of those individuals: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) recognizes the necessity to pursue justice and national 
        reconciliation in order to achieve stability, peace, and 
        security in the region;
            (2) believes a special court, established in Iraq, should 
        adjudicate the cases of those accused of bearing greatest 
        responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity;
            (3) calls on other states in the region to support the 
        efforts of a special court in combating impunity and addressing 
        accountability for the atrocities that have been committed in 
        Iraq;
            (4) considers the International Criminal Court not to be a 
        suitable forum for the prosecution of such crimes because that 
        court only has jurisdiction to hear cases relating to crimes 
        committed after July 1, 2002;
            (5) calls upon the President, in consultation with the 
        Secretaries of Defense and State and the Attorney General, to 
        create a special court or other appropriate tribunal or 
        commission for the purpose of prosecuting Saddam Hussein and 
        other Iraqi officials, military leaders, and citizens who may 
        be responsible for crimes against humanity, including unlawful 
        use of force against civilians, internal minorities, and of 
        crimes committed in contravention of the Hague and Geneva 
        Conventions on the laws of war;
            (6) calls upon the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 
        of State to notify the Congress of the steps the United States 
        and allied coalition nations are taking to seek justice for the 
        violations of international law against--
                    (A) the Iraqi people;
                    (B) the people of the countries that were victims 
                of the aggression of the regime of Saddam Hussein;
                    (C) the military forces who liberated the Iraqi 
                people in order to disarm the regime; and
                    (D) the military and civilian personnel of 
                countries that were victims of Iraqi military action 
                taken during the reign of Saddam Hussein; and
            (7) recommends that the President consult with, and receive 
        the assistance of, any foreign government or multilateral 
        agreement to the extent the President considers necessary to 
        accomplish the purposes of achieving justice for those crimes.
                                 <all>