[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 144 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 144

   Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should 
declare its support for the right of the people of Kosova to determine 
  their political future once Kosova has made requisite progress, as 
    defined by United Nations benchmarks, in developing democratic 
               institutions and human rights protections.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 14, 2003

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should 
declare its support for the right of the people of Kosova to determine 
  their political future once Kosova has made requisite progress, as 
    defined by United Nations benchmarks, in developing democratic 
               institutions and human rights protections.

Whereas paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights, to which the United States is a party, recognizes that 
        all peoples have the right of self-determination;
Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as an autonomous region in the First 
        National Liberation Conference for Kosova on January 2, 1944, this 
        status was confirmed in the Constitution of the Socialist Federal 
        Republic of Yugoslavia adopted in 1946, and the autonomous status of 
        Kosova was preserved in the amended Yugoslav Constitution adopted in 
        1974;
Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, the autonomous 
        region of Kosova constituted a political and legal entity with its own 
        distinct financial institutions, police force, municipal government, 
        school system, judicial and legal system, hospitals, and other 
        organizations;
Whereas, in 1987, Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in 
        Yugoslavia on a platform of ultranationalism and anti-Albanian racism, 
        advocating violence and hatred against all non-Slavic peoples and 
        specifically targeting the ethnic Albanians of Kosova;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of its political 
        autonomy without the consent of the people of Kosova;
Whereas the elected Assembly of Kosova, faced with this illegal act, adopted a 
        Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1990, proclaimed a Republic of 
        Kosova, and adopted a constitution on September 7, 1990, based on the 
        internationally accepted principles of self-determination, equality, and 
        sovereignty;
Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the Yugoslav federation, 
        the European Community established principles for the recognition of the 
        independence and sovereignty of the republics of the former Socialist 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from September 26 to 30, 1991, 
        in which 87 percent of all eligible voters cast ballots and 99.87 
        percent voted in favor of declaring Kosova independent of the Socialist 
        Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
Whereas, during the occupation of Kosova, which began in 1989 and ended with the 
        North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military action against the 
        regime of Slobodan Milosevic in 1999, the ethnic Albanians of Kosova 
        were subjected to brutal treatment by the occupying forces, and 
        approximately 400,000 ethnic Albanians were forced to flee to Western 
        Europe and the United States;
Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 ethnic Albanians were driven out 
        of Kosova and at least 10,000 were murdered by Serbian paramilitary and 
        military forces;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal 
        for the Former Yugoslavia and extradited to The Hague in June 2001, to 
        stand trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in 
        Kosova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia;
Whereas on June 10, 1999, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 
        mandated an international civil presence in Kosova, ending the decade-
        long Serbian occupation of Kosova and Milosevic's genocidal war there;
Whereas the people of Kosova, including ethnic Albanians, Serbs, Turks, Roma, 
        Bosniaks, Goranis, and Ashkalis, held free and fair municipal elections 
        in 2000 and 2002 and a general election in 2001 to elect a Parliament, 
        which in turn selected a President and Prime Minister in 2002;
Whereas, with 50 percent of the population in Kosova being under the age of 25, 
        and the unemployment rate currently being between 60 and 70 percent, 
        there is an increasing likelihood of young people entering criminal 
        networks, or working abroad in order to survive unless massive job 
        creation is facilitated by guaranteeing the security of foreign 
        investments through the establishment of the rule of law and functioning 
        institutions in Kosova;
Whereas for the first time since the end of the conflict, refugees from ethnic 
        minority communities in Kosova have started to return to their homes in 
        substantial numbers, although those refugees are still a small fraction 
        of the number of people that left in 1999;
Whereas most ethnic Albanian elected authorities in Kosova recognize that 
        substantial efforts toward reconciliation with ethnic minorities are 
        needed for the long-term security and participation in government 
        institutions of all citizens of Kosova;
Whereas leaders of the Kosova Parliament have publicly committed to developing a 
        western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, 
        are granted full human and civil rights and are committed to the return 
        of all refugees, whatever their ethnicity, who fled Kosova during and 
        after the conflict;
Whereas Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic of Serbia called for the return of 
        Serbian forces to Kosova and for talks on the status of the province;
Whereas, on February 25, 2003, representatives of a Serbian minority coalition 
        in the Kosova Parliament called for the establishment of a Serbian Union 
        in northern Kosova;
Whereas the international community has made clear that it will support neither 
        monoethnic government institutions, nor the partition of Kosova;
Whereas the tragic assassination in Belgrade of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran 
        Djindjic on March 12, 2003, underscored that criminal nationalist 
        elements remain a destabilizing factor in the region and an obstacle to 
        reform efforts;
Whereas the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in 
        Kosova has initiated a dialogue between the authorities in Belgrade and 
        in Pristina on issues of practical concern;
Whereas the Serbian Government on April 17, 2003, declared as ``unacceptable'' 
        the plan put forward by the Special Representative to devolve powers to 
        the elected officials in Kosova;
Whereas following his address to the Organization for Security and Cooperation 
        in Europe Permanent Council on May 8, 2003, the Special Representative 
        of the United Nations Secretary General stated that ``Kosovo Albanians 
        are being more assertive about competencies and status issues while at 
        the same time Kosovo Serbs are concentrating on developing monoethnic 
        structures'';
Whereas Deputy Prime Minister Covic on May 9, 2003, again dismissed the 
        assessment that the time has come to begin to discuss the final status 
        of Kosova;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 stated that the main 
        responsibilities of the international civil presence in Kosova include 
        facilitating a political process designed to determine Kosova's future 
        status and, in the final stage, overseeing the transfer of authority 
        from Kosova's provisional institutions to institutions established under 
        a political settlement; and
Whereas the only viable option for the future of Kosova is one that reflects 
        both the needs and aspirations of its entire population: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the United States 
should--
            (1) recognize the danger that an unnecessary delay in the 
        resolution of Kosova's final status would pose for the 
        political and economic viability of Kosova and the stability of 
        Southeast Europe;
            (2) publicly support the goal of a democratic government in 
        Kosova in which human rights, including the rights of ethnic 
        and religious minorities, are respected;
            (3) to achieve that goal, call for holding a referendum, 
        under international supervision, on the future status of 
        Kosova, once Kosova has made further progress in developing 
        institutions of democratic self-government, establishing the 
        rule of law, facilitating the return and reintegration of 
        refugees into local communities, and protecting ethnic 
        minorities, in accordance with the benchmarks established by 
        the United Nations;
            (4) work in conjunction with the United Nations, the North 
        Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union, the 
        Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and other 
        international organizations to assist Kosova to meet the United 
        Nations benchmarks that are the necessary conditions for 
        holding a referendum on the future status of Kosova and to 
        facilitate the implementation of the form of government 
        determined by the people of Kosova; and
            (5) continue to provide assistance, trade, and other 
        programs to encourage the further development of democracy and 
        a free market economic system in Kosova.
                                 <all>