Whereas July 2010 marks the 15th anniversary of the fall
of Srebrenica to Bosnian Serb forces operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina and
the massacre of approximately 8,000 people who were resident in or who had
sought refuge in the United Nations-designated safe area
of
Srebrenica;
Whereas beginning in April 1992, aggression and ethnic
cleansing perpetrated by Bosnian Serb forces, while taking control of the
surrounding territory, resulted in a massive influx of Bosniaks seeking
protection in Srebrenica and its environs, which the United Nations Security
Council designated a safe area
in Resolution 819 on April 16,
1993;
Whereas Bosnian Serb forces blockaded the Srebrenica
enclave early in 1995, depriving the entire population of humanitarian aid and
outside communication and contact, and effectively reducing the ability of a
Dutch peacekeeping battalion stationed in the enclave to deter aggression or
otherwise respond effectively to a deteriorating situation;
Whereas, on July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces seized full
control of the Srebrenica enclave and proceeded to deport women, children, and
the elderly in buses, and to hold Bosniak males over 16 years of age at
collection points and sites in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina under their
control, and then to kill the captives and bury them in mass graves;
Whereas Bosnian Serb forces, attempting to conceal
evidence of the massacre at Srebrenica, subsequently dismembered and moved
corpses and parts of corpses from initial mass grave sites to many secondary
sites scattered throughout parts of northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina under
their control;
Whereas the massacre at Srebrenica was among the worst of
many horrible atrocities to occur in the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina
from April 1992 to November 1995, during which the policies of aggression and
ethnic cleansing, pursued by Bosnian Serb forces with the direct support of the
Serbian regime of Slobodan Milosevic and its followers, ultimately led to the
displacement of more than 2,000,000 people, and the killing, raping, and
torturing of innocent civilians on a massive scale;
Whereas Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (done at Paris on December 9, 1948, and
entered into force with respect to the United States on February 23, 1989)
defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,
as such: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental
harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group
conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole
or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
and (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another
group
;
Whereas in 2005, the 10th anniversary year of the fall of
Srebrenica, the United States Congress, with the passage of H. Res. 199 and S.
Res. 134 (109th Congress), became the first legislative body to recognize the
July 1995 massacre, as implemented by Serb forces in and near the United
Nations-designated safe area
Srebrenica, as a genocide under the
terms of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide;
Whereas since the passage of H. Res. 199 and S. Res. 134
(109th Congress), other legislative bodies have recognized the July 1995
massacres in Srebrenica as a genocide under the terms of the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, including the European
Parliament;
Whereas the International Commission on Missing Persons
continues to use and develop the most advanced DNA identity testing to identify
victims of the Bosnian Serb forces at Srebrenica, as well as those killed in
the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 and the wider conflict
in the western Balkans in the 1990s, and, having positively identified over
6,490 Srebrenica victims using DNA-led scientific methods, currently estimates
almost 8,100 persons killed during and after the fall of the Srebrenica
enclave;
Whereas, on July 21, 2008, police in Serbia arrested
Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb political leader in July 1995, who in 1995
was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) for genocide and other crimes committed against civilians throughout the
territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
Whereas Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military leader in
July 1995, later indicted by the ICTY for genocide, crimes against humanity,
and violations of the laws and customs of war, remains at large; and
Whereas July 11 would be an appropriate date to designate
Srebrenica Remembrance Day
in annual observance of the
Srebrenica genocide: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)solemnly observes the 15th anniversary of
the Srebrenica genocide;
(2)supports the
designation of Srebrenica Remembrance Day
in the United
States;
(3)commends the official bodies that have
recognized the Srebrenica genocide, including the European Parliament, which
declared a Srebrenica Remembrance Day in the European Union;
(4)honors the memory
of the thousands of innocent people who died at Srebrenica in Bosnia and
Herzegovina in July 1995, along with all individuals who were killed during the
conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995;
(5)extends its
condolences to the families and friends of those who died at Srebrenica in July
1995, and during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995;
(6)reaffirms its
support for the independence and territorial integrity of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, peace and stability in southeastern Europe as a whole, and the
right of all people living in the region, regardless of national, racial,
ethnic or religious background, to return to their homes and enjoy the benefits
of democratic institutions, the rule of law, and economic opportunity, as well
as to know the fate of missing relatives and friends;
(7)thanks the International Commission on
Missing Persons for outstanding achievement in identifying persons missing from
Srebrenica and as a result of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992
to 1995, as well as the wider conflict in the western Balkans in the
1990s;
(8)expresses satisfaction at the apprehension
and transfer of Radovan Karadzic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where he is currently being tried on charges of
genocide, crimes against humanity, and other violations of the laws or customs
of war; and
(9)urges all countries to meet their
obligations to cooperate fully with the ICTY at all times, vigorously pursuing,
apprehending, and transferring to The Hague without delay all persons indicted
by the ICTY, including Ratko Mladic.